


Practically Perfect in Every Way

by betheflame, HogwartsToAlexandria



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Artist Steve Rogers, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Captain America Big Bang 2019 | cabigbang, Fluff, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis, Parent Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective Bucky Barnes, Social Worker Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Has A Heart, all fluff all the time, so fluffy you might die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2020-12-09 06:01:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HogwartsToAlexandria/pseuds/HogwartsToAlexandria
Summary: Tony Stark is a lot of things - billionaire, former playboy, professional philanthropist - but a few years back he added two more titles: widower and single father. As Peter keeps growing, Tony can't seem to keep a nanny. Thankfully, his employee James Barnes has a solution.Art therapist Steve Rogers is really tired of living grant cycle to grant cycle, but is wary when he gets an opportunity from his best friend's boss to be his child's live-in caregiver. HehatesBucky's boss. But then he meets the kid and then he gets to know Tony and then...And then they all live happily ever after.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! We are SO EXCITED to share this story with you. We want to thank the mods of the Captain America Big Bang, as well as betas Juulna, kocuria, and Kuja.

“That’s the fourth one this year and it’s _May_,” Natasha Romanov remarked to her colleague, Clint Barton. “Is he looking for Mary Poppins or something?”

Clint took a bite of his sandwich and showed her his phone.

_WhatsApp Chat: #PathwaysSeniorStaffNoTony_

_Darcy: I swear to God, if we don’t find him a nanny soon I’ll light him on fire. _

_Wanda: He’s gone through every single ideal candidate that the agency sent him! What are we supposed to do?! _

_Barnes: I can ask Steve. _

Nat looked at Clint, her eyebrows touching her hairline. “He’s willing to introduce us to his precious?”

Clint nodded with a glint in his eye and went to type.

_Clint: You’re going to ask your boyfriend to be a manny?_

_Barnes: Fuck off. He’s an early childhood therapist and has like every damn license you need to take care of a three-year-old, even with Stark’s crazy standards. Plus, he told me he’s looking for a side hustle._

_Clint: A side hustle? Is he about to start selling me skincare products through Facebook? _

_Darcy: I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your adult acne, Barton. _

_Wanda: Also, Peter is a delight - It’s Tony that’s the problem. _

Nat smirked and opened the StarkChat app on her own phone.

_Nat: James, get Darcy his resume and arrange an interview. This isn’t a side hustle, though, this is a FT gig. _

_Darcy: Yeah, with benefits and it’s a live-in. _

_Clint: That’ll put a strain on the relationship. _

_Barnes: For the last fucking time, not my boyfriend. Best friend. Jesus, Clint! Stop gaybaiting. _

_Barnes: He’d probably be down for that – would just need some cover with Peter for when he’s with clients for a little while before he passes them off to someone else at his agency, and one of us should be able to do that. _

WhatsApp kept pinging in the background as the other members of the team kept going, but in the safety of their office, Nat and Clint started talking about the implications of this. “We’ve known Barnes for… two years?” Nat said.

“About that, yeah.”

“And how many times have we asked him to bring Steve to company parties?” Nat raised an eyebrow.

“God, hundreds? I’m actually more convinced the guy is Barnes’ imaginary friend.”

“And now he just offers up Steve as a hire?”

Clint nodded. “Fucking weird.”

Nat tapped her chin in thought. “There’s something we don’t know. And I don’t like not knowing things.”

“No shit, Tasha,” Clint snorted. The pair had been friends for most of their adult lives after being sent on a particularly unfortunate blind date in college. When Tony had hired Nat, he’d asked if she’d known anyone else who could be part of their big, audacious vision and Clint had immediately sprung to mind.

“Shit,” Natasha looked at her watch. “Bank of America will be here in twenty.”

The pair scrambled from their office to head to the conference room. As the Director of Operations for Pathways Futures, Nat was in all corporate pitch meetings so that she could answer the functional questions necessary after Tony schmoozed the potential investors. As Deputy Director of Environmental Resources, Clint was in there to make sure that whatever technological innovation Tony promised off the top of his head actually got executed and was, in fact, environmentally sound. The downside of working for a genius was that he could do that – improvise perfectly. The upside was that he could do that – improvise perfectly.

The only other members of the upper management team that would be there were Darcy – as Tony’s PA – and Barnes, as VP of Communications. Therefore, Nat was sure the speculation about Steve was running in at least four separate WhatsApp groups while she did her job - and the others pretended to - for a little while.

“Everyone, thank you so much for coming,” Tony started a while later after all the pleasantries had been exchanged and the officials from BoA had taken their seats. “I know some of you are familiar with what we do here, but I’d like to start from the beginning so we’re all on the same page.” Tony clicked a few buttons and slides began to appear.

“When I was 32, my wife was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder that, as it turned out, didn’t exist before humans started pumping carcinogens and other fun things into the air and rapidly speeding up the rate of climate change. Pepper was, well, my anchor, as cheesy as that sounds to some, and I felt a little lost. I’d spent my life learning how to build weapons and planes and other things that, the more I researched, the more I realized had contributed to this problem that was now killing Pepper, and… well let’s just say that 2015 was a seminal year in our lives.

“Our son was about four months when she was diagnosed,” the slide flipped to Tony holding a very tiny Peter.

“We thought for a while it was birth complications, actually, but no, instead it was a type of cancer so rare it barely has a name, much less any funding, and everything changed. After about four months of throwing a temper tantrum, Pepper sat me down and, quite frankly, gave me the talking to I deserved.” This was the part of the presentation where Nat always watched her boss carefully. He was a pro, no doubt, and could paper over any emotion with a socially acceptable face or mannerism, but for whatever reason, mentioning this conversation always made him crack just the tiniest bit. He had never told any of his team the details, but they could guess. Even knowing Pepper only through Tony’s memories, they could guess.

On this morning, however, Tony only needed a quick breath before continuing. “After that, I started taking a long hard look at my company’s product lines, shutting down some and reformatting others, and eventually made the decision to end Stark Industries’ weapons line completely. At the same time, I started Pathways Futures and that’s where you all come in.

“As you can imagine, green technology isn’t nearly as profitable as things that kill people, and they are also heaps more expensive to do R&D on. Additionally, since we all destroyed the planet, I figure we could all be a part of fixing it. What I bring to the table is the brain power – I have four hundred scientists, engineers, inventors, dreamers, doers, and other sundry geniuses at my disposal and even when they’re working on something massive, they’re always looking for the next big thing. What you bring to the table is cash.”

The folks around the table chuckled as Tony flashed a genial smile and continued. “The Stark family has had a relationship with the Bank of America for three generations, in whatever form you were in at the time, and so I know you’re the best ones to embark with us on this new future. We want to start an endowed scholarship fund for under-resourced students with an interest in STEM. It’ll start when they’re in the U.S. equivalent of the beginning of high school – so Year 10 over in Europe, for example – and start by sending them to camps in the summer to meet other kids to collaborate with. Obviously, full paid scholarships to college that includes room and board and books and all of that, and then a full year’s salary after to give them room to breathe a little. My team has all the specifics for you, and if I know you guys, you’ll want Nat to go over every penny, which is fine and why she’s here, but let me finish with this first.

“We have an incredible opportunity to turn the tide of the hell we’ve wrought, even with the technology that already exists. Incredible strides have been made in the last few years that I’ve been paying attention, but we all know there is so much farther to go. My kid doesn’t deserve to drown in the blood I have on my hands, so whaddya say?”

Nat saw Tony exhale quickly. He’d done his job - she was sure of it, she had watched them all taking notes. But Tony never believes us when we say he’s good at this. He only believes the numbers.

* * *

“I’d say,” the president of the bank said slowly from her seat, “that you sold us at scholarships, because that’s a direction we’d like to start going anyway. We do have some detail questions and points of interest to negotiate, but you and I have known each other long enough, Mr. Stark, for me to know that those interest you about as much as how your engines work interests me.”

Tony laughed and nodded, turning the meeting over to Nat. While she got set up, he made small talk with a few of the other people in the room. As he shook the CFO’s hand, the man mentioned how much Pepper was missed and Tony had to grit his teeth to keep the genial expression on his face.

“How much longer does Pepper get to be someone everyone pretended to know?” Tony muttered to Darcy as they walked the hall down to Tony’s office.

“I’d say something quippy here, boss, but my legitimate guess is forever, and I can tell you’re a bit worn around the edges, so imma get you a smoothie and why don’t you go talk to your bots about your feelings?”

Tony smiled wearily and wandered down the hall to his workshop, loosening his tie as he went. There weren’t a lot of holdovers from his old life – besides Peter, Happy, and Jarvis – but when he’d transitioned from the owner of the world’s largest weapons manufacturer to owner of the world’s newest rag-tag bunch of do-gooders, the bots had come too.

“DUM-E,” Tony called as he entered. “Let’s work on that wind turbine engine. Jarvis, pull up the blueprints from yesterday and enlarge them to 400%, Butterfingers, be cool, your girlfriend is coming in with a smoothie and I don’t want you to embarrass yourself like last time. Also, Jarvis, any update on Peter?”

“Master Peter is happily enjoying an apparent snack. Mr. Hogan is with him and has inquired as to when you would like to be collected for dinner. Master Peter has a surprise for you.”

Tony bit his lip in a smile. According to everyone who worked with Peter, his favorite part of his day was “picking Dad up from work”, ie: riding the elevator from their penthouse to wherever Tony was in the building at the time. Yesterday’s ‘surprise’ from his son had been an elaborate cosplay of a knight who fought dragons by throwing flour on them. It was adorable, and an absolute pain in the ass to clean up. “Okay, J, my main man, put on AC/DC at 40% volume and set a timer for 5pm. Tell Happy to come for me at 6. Also, I’m sure Darcy will, but let them know where I am and ask Nat to send you her report.”

“As you wish, Sir.”

As Tony immersed himself in work – which was the only thing that really let him think any more – he muttered out loud. “Happy is fine as a temporary thing, I mean, I trust the guy with my life, so of course I trust him with Peter’s, but Peter is perpetual motion and is, frankly, exhausting, and I can tell I’m pushing Happy to the end of his rope and that’s not where I want him. So, we need to find someone who isn’t… so fucking fussy.

“That last lady, Felicity what’s-her-nuts, she was making Peter this… Butterfingers, stop that… she was making him into this little perfectly behaved soldier and while Pep always had drama with my manners - DUM-E, I swear I’m selling you for parts, don’t, thank you - she wouldn’t want our kid to be a fucking automaton, I mean, honestly Jarvis, she had him referring to me as ‘sir’.”

“I know, Sir,” Jarvis intoned, with a hint of sarcasm that made Tony’s mouth flash into a grin. “Would you like me to source adequate replacements?”

“Barnes mentioned something about a friend of his who’s looking for work that might be a good fit, so look into that for me?”

“Presently, sir.”

“U, what about this makes you think I need a blanket, for crying out loud. Butterfingers! Stop touching that. Jesus Christ, it’s a wonder I put up with any of you.”

DUM-E nearly crumpled at that and Tony’s heart twinged. “DUM-E, hey, hey, look at me, that was too harsh. I apologize. Now get me the Phillips head and try to remember what the fuck that means.” Pepper had admonished him more than once to be gentler with his bots, and he tried, he really did, but they would test the patience of Job himself.

The familiar cadence of Darcy’s walk caught Tony’s attention as she delivered his lunch and a quick kiss to Butterfingers - who Tony had not programmed with the ability to blush, but somehow managed it regardless - “Boss, we’ve all signed up for a rota to help with Peter until you can interview Barnes’ pal. You really can’t skip the thing tomorrow.”

“I can skip whatever I want.”

“Yeah, no,” Darcy smirked. “Do you remember what tomorrow is?”

“National Peanut Butter Day?”

“You’re testifying before Congress for increased STEM funding.”

“It’s still National Peanut Butter Day, right?”

Darcy huffed through a grin. “You are infuriating.”

“One of my many talents,” he grinned at her as she rolled her eyes and took her leave.

“All right, boys, double time, Dad’s got a field trip tomorrow.”

* * *

* * *

“Jarvis?” Nat said as she collapsed back into her office chair. She felt like she had run a marathon.

“Yes, Ms. Romanov?”

“Any requests from the boss man?”

“Sir has asked for the report to be sent directly to his inbox.”

She smiled sadly - she desperately wished he'd take a break, but knew that was a pipe dream - and nodded. “I’ll work on it now and he’ll have it by day’s end. But you can tell him we won.”

“Immediately, ma’am.”

Nat pulled up the working document she had on the meeting and started filling in more answers and some anecdotes that would help her remember what wording would be best for certain people. She added dates for contract deadlines to the company calendar, noting quick thumbs ups from Darcy and Wanda on the Slack channel, and then lost herself in her work for a few hours.

Nat had bounced around New York quite a bit before she found this job at Pathways. A few banks, some venture capital firms, and then she got a call from a headhunter that blew her away.

_“Ms. Romanov?” _

_“Yes?” _

_“My name is Maria Hill and I work for Shield Recruitment. Your name was given to me by Laura in Matt Murdock’s office as someone who may be perfect for a vacancy I’m looking to fill.” _

_“Is it in finance?” _

_“No, ma’am. It’s a Director of Operations position at a new tech start-up.” _

_“I don’t know anything about tech,” Nat protested, increasingly confused as to why her college roommate would recommend her for this. _

_“The owner of the company specifically wants someone without tech experience. The requirements are actually simple,” Maria continued. “You need to be able to manage a lot of quote ‘man-children who forget to eat when they’re busy’ end quote and keep track of a quote ‘cyclone of chaos that is the boss’ end quote. Laura tells me you’re the best ringleader she’s ever met and can make people behave with a crook of your eyebrow, therefore I can assure you that you are perfect for this position.” _

_“Can I ask what the company’s called?” _

_“I can send you a secure PDF explaining everything if you’re interested,” Maria replied. “But I’ll be honest, Ms. Romanov, I’ve been in recruitment for a long time and I’ve never seen a job spec like this. I’d take the interview.” _

_Nat blinked a few times in thought. It wasn’t like her current job was her favorite or anything. “Um, sure.” _

She’d been shocked when the brief was for Pathways, and even more shocked when she met Tony, who had forgotten her interview entirely and had to be dragged from the workshop, and therefore attended her interview in sweatpants and an old Ramones shirt she could swear hadn’t been washed in a good while. Every logical bone in her body told her to run until he told her about Peter.

_“Listen, Natasha, I trust Matt and Matt says I need you. I know I’m a mess, I know this thing might fall on its face, but I need to introduce you to someone.” Tony dug out his phone and flipped to a picture of a painfully adorable child with round brown eyes and a smile that could melt ice in Alaska. _

_“This is Peter and he is the only reason I manage to get out of bed each morning. When I do get out of bed, I really need someone to kick my ass and remind me that everything we do is for this kid and millions like him who have never done a damn thing to inherit the clusterfuck we’re going to give to them, and the millions more to come who may end up living in the opening scene of Wall-E unless we do something about it now. Laura and Matt tell me you are the goddamn queen of keeping people in line and I basically invented ADHD, so could you come over here and help me herd all the cats?” _

She found herself accepting the job on the spot and while she’d had about four near meltdowns since she started, she hadn’t regretted saying ‘yes’ to Tony for a minute. She was his first hire and, at the time, Pepper had only been gone for a few months. There’d been so many meetings where she or Tony were wrestling 13-month-old Peter or getting him to eat, or running around after him as they plotted and strategized and she combed the city for more cats to herd.

Clint was an easy sell to Tony.

_“He’s always been an outdoorsy guy – worked as a park ranger through college – and goes hunting and uses the whole animal, that kind of shit. I’d imagine he’ll need some further training, but –“ Tony cut her off. “What did I tell you?” “Find the people we want to work with and you’ll train them to do anything they need.” Tony nodded and shifted the conked out toddler occupying his arms. “People who have skills are a dime a damn dozen. This work is going to take our whole souls, I need people who we actually like, who have the sleeves-rolled-up, hands-dirty attitude and I need folks who like to be part of a team. We only have room for one prima-donna around here and I look the best in a tiara.” _

After Clint had come James, who’d been recommended by Tony’s best friend Rhodey, who’d heard through a friend of a friend about a vet named James Buchanan Barnes, whose charm was only rivaled by Tony’s and who’d come back from Iraq missing an arm and gaining a deep respect for the planet. Darcy had been the easiest hire – she was one of Peter’s day care workers and she snapped at Tony one day for sending Peter in without his snack. Tony texted Nat from the car park and told her to do whatever it took to hire one Darcy Lewis and her attack dog personality. Then came Wanda, who brought her brother Pietro, and the Norwegian exchange student whose name was Alec but everyone called Thor, and on and on it went.

Four years in, their team was established but always growing as a new idea or new challenge sprung out of nowhere. Nat hadn’t slept more than four or five hours in years, kept changes of clothes in her office because ‘home’ was a relative concept, and probably relied on protein shakes as food far too often, but she had also never been happier. Now to just figure out why Barnes was willing to finally introduce them to Steve.

* * *

“You’re serious,” Becca raised an eyebrow as she wiped down the counter.

“He needs a job,” Bucky replied, calmly sipping the iced coffee he had procured while her back was turned.

“He hates Stark.”

“He doesn’t _know_ Stark,” Bucky retorted. “He knows that I work a lot and he got pissed right after I started when Stark needed me to cancel that vacation Steve and I had planned. Steve got his hackles up about him overworking me, and well, you know Steve.”

Becca smiled affectionately. “Once Steve decides someone is a bully, then that’s the end of it.”

Bucky nodded. “Tony is actually the best boss I could hope to have. Steve’s being his typical illogical and stubborn self about it all, but I can promise you that once he meets Peter, he’ll take the job.”

“The kid is that cute?”

“The kid is exactly the kind of kid Steve dreams of working with,” Bucky said. “Can I have a cookie, too?”

“You gonna stay and help me wash dishes? The washer is out again.”

“Want me to look at it?”

Becca waved her hand. “Maybe, yeah, but right now grab a mop and explain about the kid.”

He did just that. “He’s clearly smart and curious, but he has trouble connecting his words to his ideas. He’s been to a few specialists but they all start talking about how something must be wrong with Peter and Tony flips his shit at the idea of ‘wrong’. It’s not limiting how he communicates with us really, but I also have a feeling that’s because we’ve just learned to speak Peter. The last few nannies all tried to turn him into a fucking Von Trapp child, and that made Peter just shut down and stop speaking all together, which made Tony-”

“Let me guess, the man flipped his shit?”

“Got it one,” Bucky confirmed. “Steve’s wanted to help students with hearing and speech difficulties since he was… what… ten? When we met that kid whose brother died because he couldn’t hear the alarm? And now he’s got an opportunity to do it one on one?”

“You’re shit at getting under the tables, focus please,” Becca added more soap to the bucket Bucky was using. “So, pro to this. Steve is so burned out we may as well be calling him ‘toast’, and I think he’s completely broke because he’s been coming here far too often lately for someone who really doesn’t like coffee.”

“Seriously?”

Becca nodded. She ran a cozy coffee shop down the street from Bucky and Steve’s apartment, which also happened to be three blocks over from where they had all grown up. Perks & Pastry had been her dream since a Starbucks opened in the neighborhood and forced one of the smaller shops out of business. Bucky thought the greatest day of his life was when that same Starbucks closed just two years after P&P opened.

“So you’re giving him the stale shit?”

“He’ll take it from me if it’s a day old, but not if it’s fresh. I gave him a quiche yesterday that I intentionally burned the crust on, because that way he’ll at least get the eggs and spinach.”

“I had no idea it was that bad,” Bucky said quietly.

Becca snorted. “He makes 35k in New York and has, what, six figures in loans still? Plus, have you met a cause that Steve Rogers won’t give money to? Just last week, he paid for Serena’s kids to go to camp. How did you not think he was broke?”

Bucky made a face and a mental note to add student loan payoff to Steve’s contract when he finally offered it to him. “I can guarantee Tony will double that,” Bucky said, “and our office always has food.”

“Cons,” Becca continued. “He’s a stubborn asshat who listens to reason almost never.”

“Well then it’s lucky for all of us that I speak fluent asshat,” Bucky replied. “Floors to your satisfaction, your highness?”

Becca gave them a once over and nodded. “Tool box is in its normal place, I think it’s the motor thingy again. And when are you going to tell Captain Asshat about this?”

“Tomorrow night,” Bucky replied and made his way back to the kitchen. “It’s 7:30 and he had that Saperstein kid today, so he’ll be on edge right now.”

“Oh, the one with the nightmare mom?”

“Yup.”

“Well,” Becca huffed her bangs out of her face. “Good luck with both my dishwasher and my favorite blondie. I gotta go get Dana from ballet, can you lock up?”

“Yeah,” Bucky called from the kitchen. “Go get my niece, I’ll see you later.” As Bucky fiddled with the ‘motor thingy’ - which was a timing belt that had been on the fritz for months - he let himself practice the conversation with Steve. He knew he was right, that working with Peter was the best path forward for Steve both personally and professionally, but Steve hated being managed or coddled, so caution was in order. By the time he got the dishwasher functional again, it was 8:15 and he had a plan.

_WhatsApp Chat: #BrotherhoodofTooManySisters _

_Bucky: Pal, you eat yet? _

_Steve: Nah, just in the door. Becca had any leftovers? _

_Bucky: Not anything with substance. I’ll get take out. You want cashew chicken? _

_Steve: Nah, I’ll find something here. _

_Bucky: Cool, I’ll throw in an egg roll. _

_Steve: Bucky. _

_Bucky: I am walking right by Mama Foo’s, and she makes your favorite. It would literally be rude for me to not procure cashew chicken. _

_Steve: I mean, if it showed up, I’d probably eat it. _

_Bucky: That’s the spirit of gratitude that warms my heart. _

* * *

Steve threw his phone down on the couch and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair._ God, I need a haircut._ He thought back to the revelations of the day and let himself sink deeper into the cushions.

_“Steve, I’m just so sorry,” Jenna had tears in her eyes as she delivered the news. “We’ve tried everything.” _

_“I know, Jenna, I’m not mad,” Steve smiled softly. _I’m just fucking petrified.

_“Clearly, if you want a reference ever, like until the end of time, I will give you a glowing one,” Jenna continued. “I have enough money to give you four weeks pay here, but I’d encourage you to increase your freelancing work as soon as possible.” _

_“I’ll do just that, Jenna,” Steve managed a smile. Their agency losing its main government funding was devastating, and while Steve wasn’t quite sure how he was going to make ends meet anymore, he was more terrified for the kids. “But what happens to all the kids now?” _

_Jenna grimaced. “I have no idea, beyond the obvious that they simply won’t get these services any longer.” _

His beard was oily and itchy from the way he’d been pulling on it - one of his nervous ticks - and Bucky was going to be home any minute with dinner and that special talent he had to see through all of Steve’s bullshit. Steve had been working as the main art therapist at Brooklyn’s largest Head Start program for about four years, and he’d loved every minute until about six months ago. He’d never loved the paycheck, nor any of the bureaucratic hoops they were all forced to jump through, but the work with the clients had been enough to let him see past those negatives. But recently, he was just exhausted.

Jenna’s news was terrible for his financial state, but, if he was honest, he was ready for a change of scenery. Having to make that change with a proverbial gun to your head was different than making it at his leisure, though. Which is what he had been doing. Which is why he knew there were no jobs in the area that he was qualified for that would pay his rent. He decided to take a quick shower before Bucky brought home dinner that Steve again couldn’t pay for. He’d always done his best thinking in the shower and he hoped today would be no different.

The first time he’d learned what an art therapist was, he was eleven years old and went to one himself. His dad had just left and his mom was barely getting out of bed, and he was _just so angry_ all the time. Thankfully, he had already demonstrated talents in art and so the teacher at his middle school made some contacts and introduced him to Miss Sally. Miss Sally changed Steve’s life.

He was still, according to Bucky, a punk after that, but much less of an unhinged one. He still hated bullies and got in too many fights, but the art helped him learn to pick his battles. So when they had a career day during sophomore year, Steve had marched straight to the “therapist” table and told them he wanted to do art therapy. He double majored in social work and visual arts for undergrad before going on to get his masters in social work and then getting his clinical license. Helping children and teenagers was absolutely, absolutely, his calling and he knew it. And he knew how lucky that made him. It did not, however, make him rich or even close to financially comfortable.

And then… then there was the proverbial elephant in every room. Steve had known he was gay since he was 15. For some folks, it was a slow revelation, but not for Steve. It had been as simple as a conversation with Bucky after Alicia Hinson asked Steve to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

_“Stevie, this is not hard,” Bucky replied as he slapped (too much) cologne on before the pair left for school one morning. “She’s a good girl, and her tits ain’t bad, and it’s not like she’ll be the worst to spend a night with.” _

_Steve paused. “I don’t care about her tits.” _

_“Okay, well, I don’t have a response for that,” Bucky - a keen connoisseur of tits - responded. _

_“I don’t care about any tits,” Steve said, a tone of slow finality settling into his voice. “I don’t really care about girls.” _

_“Huh,” Bucky replied. “You known for a while?” _

_“Nope, just this minute.” _

_“Well, let’s not ever tell Leesh it was her tits that turned you,” Bucky smirked, but brought himself up at Steve’s face. “What is your brain doing?” _

_“Is this, are we?” _

_“Pal, womb to tomb, no matter who you put your dick in,” Bucky responded immediately. “Womb. To. Tomb. Got it?” _

_Steve nodded. “No one else, not now.” _

_“Our secret, I promise.” _

He’d known at that point that he wanted to be someone else’s Miss Sally and he started paying attention to how many out gay men were teaching his classes in college, or working in the places he did his internships, or were at National Association of Social Worker conferences and the answer was always enough to confirm his feeling to stay in the closet.

“And now we’re back to square one,” Steve sighed and shut off the water. He heard Bucky yell that dinner was on the table and that Steve _should get your ass out here before I eat the extra egg roll_.

“Hands off the deep fried dough,” Steve replied after he threw some clothes on.

“I’ve a quare hunger,” Bucky said in one of the world’s worst Irish accents when he used the word to mean ‘extreme’. “Had to fix Becca’s dishwasher again.”

“Why doesn’t she just replace it?”

“I think because making me and you wash dishes brings her some kind of sadistic joy,” Bucky replied, dishing out their food.

“Sisters are great. Thanks for forcing some on me,” Steve replied.

“Happy to be of service, pal.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Steve meets Peter and realizes that maybe Tony isn't the monster Steve thinks he is. 
> 
> Oh, and Darcy, Wanda, and Nat send pretty thirsty texts.

They were just finishing dinner when Bucky’s phone went off.

“That Stark’s ringtone,” Steve remarked, his tone dark.

“Yes,” Bucky said simply, reaching for the phone.

“It’s 9:45 at night.”

“Which probably means this is an emergency,” Bucky replied calmly.

“Tony?”

_“Barnes, oh thank god. Your friend, the one who knows kids, is he free tomorrow?” _

Bucky raised an eyebrow and looked at Steve, “I’m not sure, Tony, let me ask. Stevie, what’s your schedule tomorrow?” “

Um, I can move stuff. Why?”

“He said he can move stuff, Tony. What’s the issue?”

“I have to go to Washington and I was going to take Peter with me just to make it easier, but he’s got a fever and I don’t want him to travel. Is there any way your pal could pinchhit for me?”

“Tony, you haven’t even met him yet,” Bucky said cautiously.

_“You trust him, I trust you, we’re good here. He’s your person or whatever, right? Peter is sick, I have to go yell at Congress, and I looked at the company calendar and none of you can take off tomorrow. Rock, hard place, us. So your bestie? Can he save the day?” _

“Stark’s kid is sick. Can you watch him tomorrow while Tony goes to testify?”

_“I’m going to reprimand Congress, James, not testify.” _

Steve made a face and Bucky knew he was torn. Sick kid versus his hatred of Tony Stark. “What time does he have to fly?”

“You know what, I’m putting you on speakerphone,” Bucky said and hit a few buttons. “What time do you have to fly, Tony?”

_“I need to be wheels up around 6:30. So, could you get here at 5:30 for me to explain everything?” _

“Can’t we just come now?” Bucky asked, looking at Steve, who nodded quickly. “You have, like, four guest rooms. We’ll just crash there in case Peter’s fever gets worse.”

_“Do you think it could get worse?” _

Bucky knew that tone. “Tony, listen pal, we got this. Give us about 30 to get over there-”

_“I’m sending a car now. Pete needs more Pedialyte so can you get some of the orange kind?” _

“Yeah, sure. See you in a bit, Tony, and please breathe,” Bucky ended the call and looked at Steve.

“So, thanks.” Steve sighed. “You said the kid is great and it’s not like I had anything going on tomorrow anyway besides case notes, which I can do while Peter naps. And it’s not like it’s the kid’s fault his dad is an asshole.”

Bucky bit his tongue, knowing that that argument would get them nowhere. “Right, I’m going to pack real quick.”

“You’re coming, too?”

“Yeah, Peter knows me, so if he wakes up freaking out after Tony leaves I can help. I have a meeting at 9:30 I can’t move, but Pathways is, you know, in the same building,” Bucky shrugged as he threw some clothes into a bag and got out a shirt and tie to wear the following day.

“Anything I should know?”

_God, that’s an open ended question._ “Well, like I’ve told you, he struggles with words sometimes. Peter, not Tony. Tony struggles with too many words. Tony’s wife was Pepper and everyone says the kid is a perfect blend of the two of them. She died when Peter was, like, a year old, I think? Close to that. He’s really creative and curious - I’ve been meaning to introduce you two for a bit, actually, because he reminds me of how your ma used to talk about you.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow.

“Like, when you couldn’t hear the rest of us, before you got the tubes and they finally figured out what was wrong, you just made up your own worlds in your head and ignored us until you could make us do what you wanted. That’s kinda like Peter.”

“So there’s a problem with his hearing?”

“No, they say it’s not, but he has a hard time explaining himself sometimes. The specialists Tony’s taken him to so far haven’t been super helpful.”

Steve snorted. “I’m sure they went through the normal range of physical tests, and then when they couldn’t find anything wrong, they marked him deficient instead of just understanding he may need more time. Some developmental markers are culturally-”

“I know, culturally determined as well as biologically. Yes, we’ve met. I’ve heard the rants,” Bucky grinned at Steve. “But yeah, that’s Pete. He loves anything that he can take apart and put together again, and Paw Patrol.”

Steve smiled. “Sounds like my kinda kid.” 

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #TheBrotherhoodofTooManySisters_

_Steve: I don’t have Stark’s number, but can you let him know I’m taking Peter to the E.R.?_

Bucky nearly dropped his phone.

_Bucky: You’re what now? _

_Steve: His fever went to 103, and it’s hovered there since 6 this morning. I’d rather be safe than sorry, unless he has an on-call pediatrician? _

_Bucky: Darcy would know, let me check. _

“Darce,” Bucky bellowed out his office door. “Can you come here?”

“James,” she bellowed back, “Can’t you use a phone like an adult?” But he heard her voice coming closer anyway. “What?”

“Do you have Pete’s pediatrician’s number?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Steve wants Peter to see a doctor. Can you give it to me?”

“You gonna call Tony?” Darcy raised an eyebrow. Bucky nodded. _But not until we hear what the doctor says, because otherwise he'll blow off Congress and will somehow manage to get arrested. _

“Of course. Number?”

Darcy flipped through her phone and rattled off some digits.

“Dr. Pomatter. She’s great. Was one of Pepper’s friends.”

“Thanks, Darce.”

_Bucky: Dr. Pomatter. I’ll send you her direct line._

_Steve: Thanks, he’s not sweating. I don’t like that._

Bucky had to fight a grin. Not because Peter was sick - that was horrible - but because Steve was already attached to Peter.

_Bucky: Got it, pal. Let me know what she says. _

* * *

“Mr. Scheve?” Peter’s voice was soft as Steve placed another cold compress on his head.

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“When will Daddy be here?”

Steve checked his watch. “In thirty minutes.”

“Mmmkay,” Peter sighed. “Thirsty pops?”

Steve smiled gently, doing a quick translation in his head. “Dr. Pom said you can have as many ice pops as you’d like, so you want an orange one or purple?”

“Pupple.” Steve left the drowsy boy on the couch temporarily and headed to the freezer to grab the frozen Pedialyte popsicles he’d prepared earlier. His phone buzzed with another text from Tony.

_WhatsApp Chat: #AboutPeter _

_Stark: I’m about an hour out. How’s my buddy? _

_Steve: He’s kept liquids down consistently since 5. He’s still blotchy from the fever. _

_Stark: Dr. P cleared him for solid food yet? _

_Steve: No, broth and pedialyte for the next 24. _

_Stark: Got it, I’ve cleared my schedule for tomorrow, but are you possibly free on Friday morning? _

Steve sighed. “Well, thank you funding issues, I seem to have flexibility in my schedule.”

_Steve: Yeah, I have a client at 2:30 but otherwise I just have paperwork that day. _

_Stark: Great. Just get Darcy your bank info and I’ll deposit your pay. _

Steve wrinkled his nose.

_Steve: I didn’t do this for pay. _

_Stark: I didn’t say you did, but I pay the folks who take care of my kid. _

_Steve: Would you pay Bucky? _

_Stark: No, but I already pay him for other things. _

_Steve: I don’t need your money. I did this for Peter. _

_Stark: Calm down, I’m just trying to do the right thing here. _

Steve didn’t reply. He wasn’t taking that asshat’s money. The kid needed watching and needed a doctor and Steve was happy to do that, but he wasn’t taking Stark’s money.

Steve had hated Stark from the minute Bucky got the job. He and Buck had been scheduled to go snowboarding up in Vermont and Stark had made Bucky cancel the weekend before his official start date because of some crisis that wasn’t even a real crisis. Stark worked his entire team to the bone and, what was worse, Bucky stopped complaining and had even started _defending_ his boss. After a year or so, Steve had stopped complaining about Stark to Bucky. It didn’t get him anywhere.

He’d known about Peter before this situation. Bucky had a bunch of pictures with the kid from company parties and other stuff, plus the stories of the revolving door of nannies were pretty funny, even if they only confirmed that Stark was an ass. Bucky’s voice always went a little soft when he talked about Peter, though, so Steve had assumed the kid was special. He was delighted to find out that he was right.

Besides some normal reticence to be touched by a stranger - which meant that Peter had asked for Mr. Bucky to take his temperature the first few times - Peter treated Steve like a new friend.

_“Okay, kiddo,” Bucky pushed back Peter’s hair off his flushed face. “I have to go do some boring grown up stuff, but Mr. Steve is going to stay here with you. You remember me telling you stories about him?” _

_Peter nodded sleepily. “Besht pal. Brother.” Bucky smiled and caught Steve’s eye. _

_“Yup, he’s my brother, and I trust him with my life, and you’re more important to all of us than that, so you’re in super good hands, okay? If you want him to call your dad or Miss Nat or me or anyone at any point, you just ask and he’ll do it, okay?” Peter nodded and tilted his head towards Bucky in the way that meant he was looking for a forehead kiss. It was the traditional way that all of Peter’s ‘family’ said goodbye to him. _

_“No touching.” _

_Bucky looked a little surprised as he clarified. “From me? Or no touching from Mr. Steve?” _

_“Two,” Peter replied. _

_“Okay, no problem buddy,” Steve said. “I won’t touch you unless you ask me to, okay?” _

_He looked over at Bucky. “Can you come back up in two hours to re-take his temp, then? Forehead isn’t going to be accurate when he’s this flushed.” Bucky nodded and said goodbye to Peter, motioning for Steve to follow him. _

_“That’s new. The touching.” _

_Steve shrugged. “I’m way bigger than his dad and I have all this hair all over my face. Plus, he’s had a lot of strangers through his door recently but I’m guessing they’ve all been women. It isn’t abnormal, him needing more time to trust me.” _

_“Okay, I’ll be back up and I’ll send Darcy in when she arrives. Peter loves her.” _

A whole day with Peter - and a few hours with Darcy, who kept popping up in the elevator - had convinced Steve that even if Stark was a terrible boss, he was an exceptional father. He checked on Peter enough to be concerned, but not enough to be hovering. He knew just how to direct Steve to calm the boy down, which toy to fetch, or what show to put on. He took a few deep breaths after the money conversation and decided to be an adult. Tony answered the video call immediately.

“Rogers, I-”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Steve said. “I’m just getting really tired and I’m not sure I’ll be awake when you get in and wanted to make sure you didn’t have any final questions about Peter.”

Tony blinked a few times and asked a few quick ones, mostly about Peter’s entertainment choices since they acted as a cipher of his emotions. “Listen, thanks,” Tony said in a tone of finality. “Single parenting is not my life choice and I’m a big fan of the ‘it takes a village’ and I have zero compunctions about harassing my staff into childcare, but you went above and beyond here.”

Steve laughed, despite himself, ignoring the thanks. “You’re doing a great job, though.” _There, Rogers, that didn’t cause you physical pain to admit._

Tony waved his hand, as though to say that he was discounting what Steve was saying. “He told Darcy that you’re his new favorite paper towel, so I was wondering exactly what games you were playing.” The tone was playful, but Steve could hear the frustration in Tony’s voice that he couldn’t sort out what his own son was saying.

“Well…” he trailed off and let his eyes roam around the room. “I think he means I look like the guy on the Brawny label.” Tony started laughing.

“You do, of course! Yes.”

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Tony. “The only problem we had was when I couldn’t find Salty.”

Tony blinked. “I forgot to turn on the dryer before I left, didn’t I?”

“We managed,” Steve said quickly. “I distracted him with your pillow case - an old trick I learned in school - and that worked until I could get Salty.”

“My pillow case?”

“Kids have a feral sense of smell, in terms of comfort. I had a client once who had bounced around the foster care system for a while before getting adopted and one of the first things we noticed is that she never quite got comfortable in bed. We were afraid that she’d been abused or something before she finally said something about how it smelled wrong. That all her beds had smelled wrong. So her parents bought literally every single type of detergent in the store and, through trial and error, they found the one that her birth mother had used,” Steve explained. “For some kids, it doesn’t matter, but I took a gamble that it did for Peter, that he needed to smell you to feel safe.”

“Well God damn, Rogers,” Tony said, a touch of awe in his voice. “I’ll be god damned. You are a genius.”

Steve had no idea what to do with the compliment from a man he had so emphatically tagged as “asshole” - for Tony to be so generous in his praise cracked the boundary wall around that definition a bit. “I will admit I wasn’t expecting Salty to be a t-shirt,” Steve responded, ignoring the previous comment.

Tony started laughing. “I guess not. Well, it’s called Salty because it was Pepper’s shirt. It’s a little joke of my own, I guess, but Peter would not let go of that shirt for about a month after her funeral - it was the one she was wearing when she fed him for the last time - and I couldn’t, emotionally, keep calling it Pepper’s shirt, so it just kind of became Salty and it’s been Petey’s comfort ever since.”

_God damn it,_ Steve muttered to himself. _I need him to be a fucking asshole, but he just can’t behave, can he. He makes one more good parenting move and looks at me with those Bambi eyes and I’m going to be in trouble._ “Right,” he said out loud. “That makes total sense.”

The men exchanged a few more comments before Tony said he was about to transfer to the chopper and would lose Steve anyway. “Listen, if I don’t see you tonight or tomorrow, I’ll see you Friday morning for the handoff, okay? I have a 9am I can’t move, so, can you be there at 8:30?”

“See you then,” Steve affirmed.

* * *

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #PathwaysLadies _

_Darcy: He is gorgeous. I mean, illegally gorgeous. _

_Nat: Great, not helpful, though. Is he good with Peter? _

_Wanda: Picture? _

_Darcy: I’m not creeping and taking pictures of him with a sick kid. _

_Wanda: Did you grow ethics overnight or something? _

_Nat: She has a point, Darce. _

_Darcy: Fine, I’m going up again in an hour. _

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #PathwaysLadies _

_Darcy: *image attached* _

_Nat: Sweet goddess in her heaven have mercy. _

_Darcy: I TOLD YOU. _

_Wanda: Tony has to hire him. For our sakes._

* * *

Peter’s fever had finally fully broken at about 4am and Tony was thrilled to transfer him to one of the guest rooms, with its clean sheets and carefully arranged pillow boundaries, while he stripped Peter’s bed and began to wipe everything down with Lysol. He could hear Pepper telling him that it could wait, and that he should go back to bed, but Tony’s body hummed with the need to accomplish something. Sure, he’d gotten a few congressfolk to turn back some of the legislation that was going to cripple the development of the electric car, and he had a great conversation with that Native Land Rights activist so he could learn more about water tables, and so Tony Stark, Professional Person had accomplished much that day. Tony Stark, _Peter’s father,_ felt like he had hands made of jello for all he’d been able to parent.

The thing was, he had always known other people would be helping raise his kids. Even when Pepper was alive and they were doing this together, he knew that two people with their busy lives would not be enough. They’d always talked about live-in help to supplement for them so, cognitively, Tony knew that he was being pedantic and picky about hiring Peter’s full time caregiver. He knew it. But… it didn’t seem to matter. He’d been more content with the ones Nat had found for him when Peter was still an infant. Now that they were firmly into “toddler” and approaching “school age”, he found himself raking every option over the coals and finding them all wanting. Until, possibly, this Steve fellow.

Tony let out a long sigh and padded down to his workshop, knowing he wasn’t going to get any sleep. Jarvis’ background check on the man had come in while Tony was flying earlier that morning and he had spent most of the flight home reading it. On paper, he was perfection. His references were impeccable. His credit score was terrible, but millennials trying to eat weren’t often afforded the luxury of a good credit score so Tony could overlook that. “Plus, let’s just take a hot minute for the fact that he is a walking Dorito,” Tony muttered to himself as he finished the last of the dishes. “If someone genetically engineered ‘man’ in a lab, I’m fairly sure he’d look like Barnes’ best friend.” The seeming perfection is what bugged him, though. Why wouldn’t Barnes recommend him before this?

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #PathwaysLadies _

_Darcy: Confirmed, he’s back today. _

_Darcy: I just went up because Jarvis said Tony was in the workshop and I was worried because, well, you know. _

_Wanda: Yeah, we do. _

_Darcy: So I get up there and Steve is there, feeding Peter, who is actually eating for him, and singing this song and you all know I don’t want kids but my ovaries swooned. _

_Wanda: Is it gross to ask Jarvis for screenshots off the security camera? _

_Nat: 100%. Not going to stop us, though. _

* * *

_Slack Channel: #PathwaysMain _

_Barnes: Hey, yahoos, the Citizens folder is missing the fancy flyer. @Clint - did you call the printer? _

_Clint: I passed that off to Wanda - I had that thing in midtown. _

_Wanda: I have no record of this, Clinton. _

_Clint: Fuck. Did I just do it in my head? _

_Clint: Fuck. I’ll fix this. _

_Barnes: Fifteen minutes, I think we gotta punt. Where’s Tony? _

_Nat: Upstairs with Peter. _

_Barnes: Steve is there today - so Peter’s safe and Tony’s just avoiding Sanderson. I’ll go get him. _

_Clint: Steve is there again? _

_Wanda: How many times has Tony tried to hire him? _

_Barnes: Steve says zero times. _

_Nat: Tony says seven. _

_Nat: Crack communicator strikes again. _

_Nat: Who’s fixing this. '_

_Darcy: I have a solution for Citizens - Clint, you just need to get the mini projector. Someone else can fix Tony’s language skills. _

_Barnes: You’re all going to make me do this, aren’t you. _

_Nat: Thanks, James! _

* * *

Later, after a successful pitch that was saved by Darcy’s creativity, Bucky wandered into Tony’s office and knocked on the open door. “Got a minute?”

Tony nodded and motioned for Bucky to shut the door behind him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Steve’s an obtuse idiot, a lot, so if you want to hire him, you literally need to use those words,” Bucky supplied.

“I have. He keeps turning me down.”

Bucky shook his head. “Then we gotta try something else, because he said you only need him every once in a while.”

Tony blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair. Bucky recognized the posture as ‘Genius Reviewing The Last Few Days For Data’. “Okay, there are at least six occasions where I think Pep would have told me I used too many words and confused things.” Not for the first time, Bucky desperately wished he had known Pepper Stark.

“Right, so just a thought,” Bucky grinned. “Just hire him.”

Tony made a face that Bucky couldn’t quite interpret. “Barnes, he’s got another job.”

Bucky shook his head. “He’s entirely dependent on private clients and grant cycles. He has an occasional paycheck, and he’s being super cagey about that, so my guess is that funding fell through and my sister feeds him a lot of day-old quiche, so all signs point to he’s actually either unemployed or real close, so make him an offer he can’t refuse, Mr. Businessman.”

* * *

It was two days after Bucky’s talk with Tony that a knock sounded on the apartment door. He and Steve were in for the night - Bucky due to exhaustion and Steve due to poverty since he refused to touch the money that Tony had wired for watching Peter out of some sort of logic clear only to him that Bucky had tried to dismantle several times before he gave up - and were about to see if the Mets would completely embarrass themselves that night against the Phillies or only kinda.

“Who the fuck is that?” Steve asked from the couch as Bucky went to get the door.

“Tony!” Bucky said as he swung it open. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Hi. Nothing’s wrong,” Tony replied, “I was just out for a drive.” “

In Brooklyn,” Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“I was _out for a drive_,” Tony repeated, “with Pete and Happy and we decided to take in the sounds and sights of Red Hook.”

“Uh huh,” Bucky said as Tony stepped into the apartment. “Happy got the kid in the car?”

“Hi, Tony,” Steve called from the couch, and Bucky caught the look on Tony’s face and knew immediately why he was here.

“Steve, hi, good, you’re here,” Tony strode over and stood in front of the other man. “Please come be Peter’s caregiver.”

“What?”

“Listen buddy, my kid likes you, and I trust you, and I trust about four people who don’t already work for me, so that’s a big deal. What will it take for you to say yes?”

“For you to treat your staff like human beings,” Steve snapped at Tony without even thinking.

Tony blinked a few times. “Wow, are you missing some pieces of your puzzle, but fine, sure, whatever. Since you’ll be one of them, you’ll find out exactly how terrible working for me is. Salary?”

“What did you pay your last nanny?”

“Haven’t kept one for more than six weeks since Pepper died. How much do you want?”

“I was making 35k at the last gig.”

“You’re fucking - to work with, that’s all this city thinks, fucks sake. You’re starting at 90, because I started Bucky on 75 and your job is way more important. Full benefits. Talk to Darcy, and you live with me and Peter. Your own apartment, but like, on site. That’s non-negotiable. If that’s going to make it hard for Barnes to cover the rent, then I’ll - you know what? I’ll do it anyway - so yes, we’ll cover your half of the rent until he can find someone else. That all work?”

Steve was speechless. “That’s a lot.”

“Of money? Please. I make money when I breathe. Time, that’s what I can’t get back and I don’t want to waste any more of it finding my kid his perfect caregiver when I’m already fucking looking at him. You in or out, Rogers?”

Steve blinked a few times, doing quick calculations in his head. _I could pay off my loans, like, ten years quicker, and I bet that a reference from Tony Stark could help me start my own practice, and I think Buck might actually dismember me if I turn this down._ “Done. When do I start?”

“Now,” Tony replied. “Happy and I will be in the car, pack whatever you need for a few days and I’ll send movers over to get the rest.” And with that, the fourth richest man in America walked out the door of Steve and Bucky’s walkup, leaving a wake behind him like a hurricane.

Steve felt his phone buzz.

_WhatsApp Chat: #AboutPeter _

_Stark: Tonight’s pizza night and the kid got Pep’s disgusting obsession with pineapple on pizza and I don’t need you to quit before you even start. So, we each get our own pie. What’s on yours? _

_Steve: Italian sausage, black olives, and onions. _

_Stark: Got it. Stark: Pack faster. _

_Steve: Stop texting me. _

_Stark: Learn to multitask. _

Steve got off the couch slowly and turned to look at Bucky, who was leaning on the doorframe that led into the meager kitchen. “Welcome aboard, pal,” he said, with a toast of his beer bottle. “I’d get moving, or he’ll order you Papa John’s as retribution.” That shocked Steve into movement and pretty soon he, and a backpack full of clothes and his sketchbooks, was flying down the stairs and into his new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter posts on October 16, so we'll see you then. Thank you _so much_ for all your comments and enthusiasm - we've been sitting on this story for a while, so it's so exciting that it's resonating with folks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idiots are pining, but are also still idiots and are obtuse and so they both think they're pining alone.

_WhatsApp Chat: #PathwaysLadies_

_Nat: He’s been FT for… a month? Right?_

_Darcy: Hey, did someone get the tickets for the play at the Public we were all talking about or did we let that fall?_

_Nat: The one with the slash?_

_Darcy: Yeah, and the guy from the weird bunny movie. _

_Wanda: I got them. You all owe me $45. _

_Darcy: I’ll Venmo you now. And yes, Nat, actually five weeks. _

_Nat: Anyone else notice that Tony’s calmer?_

_Darcy: *snorts* Tony’s calm is still my nightmare. _

_Wanda: He’s calmer, I agree. And twice last week, he stopped himself mid-ramble to make sure I knew what he was talking about. _

_Nat: I’m actually speechless over that. _

_Wanda: I bought a lottery ticket. _

_Darcy: It’s him. It’s got to be. _

_Nat: Well, someone is going to have to reel Tony’s crush back in, because Mr. Perfect isn’t in play. _

_Darcy: NOT IT. _

_Wanda: NOT IT. _

_Darcy: Cool, I’ll make Barnes do it. _

________________________ 

_WhatsApp Chat: #NatIsQueen_

_Tony: Do you know the deal with Nanny Rogers?_

_Nat: I need a bit more context, Bossman. _

_Tony: Like, family? Wife? _

_Nat: No wife. He’s Barnes’ roommate. All I know is that the only person he spends time with besides Barnes and Barnes’ sister is someone named Sam. _

_Tony: Sam. _

_Nat: Am I digging into someone’s personal life?_

_Tony: No. _

_Tony: Just curious. _

_Nat: Tony. _

_Tony: I’m not going to be the Upper East Side cliche of fucking my nanny, Natasha, even if he did bat for my team. Stand down. _

_Nat: Not him, then, fine, but it’s been a while. _

_Tony: Good night, Nat. _

________________________ 

It wasn’t that Steve hadn’t _wanted_ to meet Bucky’s co-workers before he took the job. It just hadn’t happened. He was busy with work - which was never on a regular schedule - and then there was the whole desperately-hating-Tony thing that kinda put a damper on things.

He was, therefore, pleasantly surprised when all of them turned out to be really fantastic. And, after a few months of being a part of that world, he knew it was time to let Bucky know.

“So,” Steve said to Bucky one afternoon when Bucky swung up to Tony and Peter’s with a dinner delivery. 

“Buttons,” Bucky responded. He’d been trying to train Steve to stop using ‘so’ as a verbal transition because it _drove. Bucky. nuts._

“SO,” Steve said, as he simultaneously flipped Bucky off. “I think I was wrong about Tony.”

Bucky blinked and let his bite of falafel fall off his fork. “I’m sorry, did the space-time continuum just rend itself? Did Steven Grant Rogers just admit that he was potentially wrong? Should I tell Bec to buy us lottery tickets?”

“I really fucking hate you,” Steve said, glancing over at the living room, where Peter was ensconced in an episode of Imagination Movers. 

“Mutual. Wuddya mean, you were wrong about Tony?”

Steve blushed, just the littlest bit, but enough that Bucky took notice. “He’s possibly the best father I’ve ever met.”

Bucky nodded. “And?”

“And he’s a really good employer.”

“And?”

“And you were right,” Steve sighed. “Are you happy?”

Bucky nodded triumphantly and took a sip of his drink. “You’re two of the best men in the world, Stevie. I just wanted you guys to know that.”

The conversation moved on from there for a few moments before Tony emerged from his personal office and gave the men a cursory greeting before heading straight to Peter. 

“Oh, the Movers!” Tony cried and started singing along with the song on the screen. 

_So, he’s, like, the perfect dad, he’s kind and generous, and when he runs his hands through his hair so much that it looks like that I have to sit on my hands to keep from fixing it and his smile is … _Steve sighed deeply, hoping Bucky wouldn’t notice, and quickly started doing the dishes. As he lost himself in the rhythm of the menial task, his mind wandered back to Tony, which was dangerous and Steve knew it. 

Didn’t stop him, though.

________________________ 

“I hear that applesauce is the new haute couture,” Tony said, not keeping the smile out of his voice as he got off the elevator.

Steve chuckled but didn’t take his eyes off of Peter, who was secure in the booster seat they used for table eating, but was also… a disaster zone. Both Peter and Steve were covered in un-identified food substances and the table hadn’t fared much better. Tony noticed U over in the corner, dutifully scrubbing what was probably dried eggs off of the floor. 

“Steven, can I ask why it looks like a war was fought with my pantry?”

Still not taking his eyes off of Peter, the blond responded, “because it was. We may have gotten a little carried away in a game earlier, sorry about that, I’ll clean it all after Peter _finishes his dinner_.”

Tony caught the tone of complete exasperation in Steve’s voice, and from the set of Peter’s jaw, it was warranted.

“Peter, please. Two more bites.”

“NO.”

“Peter. Two more bites and you can have 10 extra minutes of _Paw Patrol_,” Steve countered, a hint of desperation in his voice that Tony recognized all too well. 

Peter appeared to consider this and then held up two fingers. “Two times.”

“Two bites for two ten minutes?” Steve clarified and Tony was reminded, once again, that there was no one better to care for his son than this man. 

Peter nodded and held out his little hand for Steve to shake, like they were completing a negotiation. 

“Two bites for two ten minutes, but you also have to take a bath.”

The hand retreated to Peter’s side immediately. “Dad. Mr. Steve drives a hard bargain.”

Tony licked his lips to keep from smiling and planted a kiss on his son’s head. That has to be a phrase he learned from TV or something. “He does, kiddo. You should probably take the deal.”

“Yeah?” 

“Uh huh,” Tony affirmed. “Just think, that’s almost one whole extra episode of _Paw Patrol_ today and all you have to do is eat two bites and get a little soapy. I think that’s a good exchange.”

Peter appeared to think about this and then stuck his hand back out. “Deal.”

Steve shook it and then put a spoon back in it. “Two bites.”

Peter obliged and then it was decided that the best viewing conditions would be when he was not completely sticky, so he was sent into his room to take off his clothes and wait in the bathroom. Steve headed to follow him, but Tony said he’d take bath duty if Steve could help the bots identify what foods they were cleaning. 

Bathtime was… eventful. Tony had made the amateur move of not changing out of his suit before embarking on the endeavor (_Come on, Stark, you know better,_ he chided himself as he threw a potentially ruined pair of trousers into the dry cleaning pile), but Peter was playful and chatty and that made it worth it. 

“What did you do today, Peter?”

“Blocks, cards, dogs, and then food.”

Building with the sensory blocks, flash cards for occupational therapy stuff, _Paw Patrol_, and eating, Tony translated. “What was your favorite?”

“Cards,” Peter said, surprising Tony, as he leaned his head back for Tony to rinse out the shampoo. 

“What about the cards was your favorite?”

Peter knitted his face in concentration. “I said a whole sentence that Mr. Steve understood without any of _my_ words.”

Tears sprung to Tony’s eyes entirely unbidden. “Well, Peter Benjamin Stark, that is a big day and something to be really excited about.”

Peter looked up at his dad with wide eyes. “It was hard.”

Tony nodded. “I know, kiddo. But let me tell you a little secret.” He leaned down closer to Peter and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Your mom was really, really good at doing hard things and she taught me that we can all do hard things, but it’s easier to do them together. So I’m glad you did that today with Mr. Steve, and maybe you and I can practice too.”

Peter nodded solemnly as he processed that piece of truth. “We can do hard things.” The words were measured, careful, and Tony knew they’d cost his son some energy. 

“We can and we will and I’m proud to be your dad,” Tony replied, choking a bit on the last phrase. 

Peter beamed up at him and then slipped back into a patter of chat while they finished his bath. 

_Oh Pep_, Tony thought while he helped Peter dry off and wrestled him into pajamas. _I think I found a miracle worker, and I think you’d love him. If I didn’t know better, I might too._

________________________ 

“So, how’s the job working out?”

“It’s actually perfect,” Steve admitted as he and his friend Sam rounded a corner on the running trail in Central Park. 

“And the asshat you work for?” Sam cocked his brow. 

“You’ve been talking to Buck?” 

Sam put his hands up briefly in a “don’t shoot” motion. “Hey pal, I’m a good secret keeper for both of you idiots. All I know is that you hate him and Bucky never thought you should.”

Steve was quiet for a few paces. Finally, he cast a glance at Sam. “He’s pretty amazing, the asshat. Tony is really amazing.”

Sam had known Steve Rogers for a long time - since the first day that he walked into the physical therapy office Sam’s parents ran back when they were teenagers and Steve’s anger issues were stressing everyone out. He and Sam learned to box together as part of the plan to give Steve a productive use of his emotions instead of spewing them all over everyone else. Thus, Sam also knew of Steve’s general inability to understand what he was actually feeling at any given moment. 

“You gonna do anything about it? Or just pine all over the place like a Bronte heroine?”

Steve snorted. “I do not pine.”

“You pine.”

“Name one time-”

“The coffee shop boy on 8th, the intern from NYU last summer, that dancer from _Hamilton_ I tried to hook you up with, the-”

“Fuck you, Wilson. Fine, I pine.”

Sam snorted. 

“But he’s my boss, Sam. So, no.”

Sam knew when to push and when to stop, so he stopped. 

For now.

________________________ 

Tony heard a sound in the kitchen that indicated Steve was home from his run with the elusive and infamous “Sam” and moved quickly. Not that he was trying to spot Sam or anything, not that he was curious what kind of person Steve’s-Maybe-Partner was. Of course not.

“See ya, Sam,” Steve called and Tony heard the elevator close just as he rounded the corner. _Damnit._ “Oh, hey Tony, good morning!”

Tony, in a futile attempt to not swallow his tongue at the sight before him, choked out, “morning, Stevo.”

_Sweat, abs, skin, oh my god, so much skin, so much, yummy, oh god, hand’s off, Stark, nanny, Peter’s nanny, sweet god those muscles, oh fuck, I think he’s talking._

“Sorry, I spaced, what was that?” 

Steve smiled and toweled some of the sweat out of his hair with the shirt he just casually whipped off. “I said I’m going to go grab a shower and then I was thinking of taking Peter to the Natural History Museum today.”

Tony cocked his head to one side. “If he promises to never take off his hat, and you put him in the black jacket, and you take Happy with you, I’ll allow it.”

Steve paused, clearly wanting to challenge Tony’s security paranoia, but Tony held up a hand.

“You’ve been in this world for about a minute, Steven, and I’ve been in it since the fucking womb. I know you think I’m nuts, but I’m not, and I’m not taking risks with my kid. One hour, he gets to look at the dinosaurs, and you hear one camera shutter and you’re both out of there. Deal?”

Steve stared Tony down for a few minutes. “Fine.”

They chatted through logistics for a few moments and then Steve left to get Peter ready for the day. 

Tony went to take a second shower. It was honestly just easier. 

_He’s with this Sam woman. He is your employee. He is not even into men!_

And yet, no matter how many times he repeated it as he stroked, he couldn’t get the image of Steve standing in the kitchen that morning out of his head.

________________________ 

_WhatsApp Chat: #SteveIsDumb_

_Steve: I’m sorry. _

_Tony: You should be. _

_Tony: I appreciate the chat name change. You are. _

_Steve: I thought it would be fine. _

Tony gripped his phone for a few seconds and took several cleansing breaths. 

_Tony: I can’t function if you don’t trust me with my kid, Steve. Your fancy degrees cannot help him if he gets fucking kidnapped. _

_Steve: It was three photographers and Happy had it under control. _

_Tony: That feels like you’re calling me dramatic. _

_Steve: No. _

_Steve: I do agree he needs more security. Which is why he should be at Brightside next year. _

_Tony: He’s going to Manhattan Upper. _

_Steve: Now you are being dramatic. He won’t not be a scientist because he goes to a school where he’ll also learn how to paint. _

_Tony: We’ll talk about this later. _

_Steve: Don’t blow me off, Tony. _

_Tony: When I say ‘later’, I mean later, Steven. I’ll see you later. _

________________________ 

“Fabulous Baker Boys,” Clint said from his end of the table. “Pfieffer in that movie was…”

“Good one,” Bucky affirmed and winked at Natasha. “Your turn.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not playing.”

Cries of _come onnnnn Nat_ and _spoil sport_ sounded around the table. Finally she held up her hands. “Fine, whatever you weirdos. Mine’s Joey Mac from New Kids on the Block.”

It was late one Wednesday night and the whole team was waiting for Tony to finish a particularly tricky piece of negotiation with a company in Japan, and he’d asked them to hang around to help him strategize whatever outcome happened. They’d gone through most work related topics already, and had now shifted to … others. 

The door creaked open and they all straightened a bit, but it wasn’t Tony. It was Steve. 

“Rogers,” Bucky called. “First celebrity sexual awakening?”

Without missing a beat, Steve replied, “Not answering that, Bucky.”

“Didn’t peg you for a coward,” Clint crowed and Darcy snorted. 

“Well, I’m a bundle of surprises,” Steve replied with a tight smile. “Is he actually on the phone or just avoiding you all?”

Clint replied that Tony never avoided them at the same time that Nat’s eyebrow quirked. “Something wrong with Peter?”

“No, he’s asleep and Jarvis has an eye on him,” Steve confirmed, still standing and Bucky could feel the nervous energy rolling off of him. 

“Pal,” Bucky called attention to himself and Steve turned to look. “Just go in.”

“If he’s on the phone-”

“- then you’ll sit and play Two Dots,” Bucky replied. “Just go in.”

The left side of Steve’s mouth quirked up in a smile and he nodded. Once he was gone, Nat looked at Bucky. 

“Got something to share with the class, Barnes?”

“A working hypothesis,” Bucky replied. “Still in the testing phase.”

Clint and Darcy exchanged glances, until Wanda interrupted. “Great, so, it’s Darcy’s turn.”

Bucky decided it was an excellent time to stretch his legs and told them all he was heading for the restroom. 

If that route happened to pass by Tony’s office, and there was a particular part of Tony’s door one could stand at to eavesdrop, well that was just a coincidence. 

_“It’s my professional opinion, that’s all, Tony,”_ Steve was saying. 

_“And I thank you for that, since that’s what I pay you for,”_ Tony said in the tone that told Bucky he was about to lose it, _“but he’s still my kid. And I’m telling you I want him in a STEM program.”_

_“And I’m telling you that you need him in a STEAM one,”_ Steve replied. _“He needs humanities and languages, and the earlier he starts them-”_

_“The kiddo sleeping up there who is afraid of English? You want him to start on Spanish?”_

_“I actually want him to start on Spanish, ASL, and French - because one of them may help him unlock the reasons why he can’t connect the dots in English,”_ Steve’s voice was raised and Bucky was torn between getting out of there for self preservation’s sake, and plastering himself to the wall so he could hear even better. 

_“I just don’t remember ever signing over parental rights to you, Steven,”_ and Bucky could hear the sneer in Tony’s voice. 

_“Oh, fuck you, Stark,”_ Steve spat back. _“You hired me to help raise your son, and whether you’re 100% comfortable with it on the day-to-day or not, that’s what you did. I love that boy up there and I’ve not been shy about admitting that. If my professional opinions weren’t driving me, that alone would be. He’s special and I’ve told you this before, I’m just trying to make you see that he needs the whole world, not just the tech side.”_

There was silence for a few beats and Bucky could hear the opening of Tony’s mini-fridge and the crack sound that went with opening an aluminum can. _“Passion fruit or grapefruit?”_

_“Grapefruit,”_ was Steve’s reply and Bucky could just picture the seltzer water cans that Tony favored. 

_“I just,”_ Tony began after what Bucky could only assume was a pause to drink his seltzer. _“I am just scared all the time. Every moment of every fucking day I am terrified that I’m going to fuck him up and it’s so overwhelming. All the decisions - “_

Bucky abruptly pulled his ear away from the wall. Hearing the two of them fight was one thing and already a slight stretch of his ethics. This was something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are you feeling, chickens? Still digging Peter? Ready for these two idiots to stop pining? 
> 
> Two chapters left - they'll post on the 21st and 23rd of October - see you then!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which most things come to a head - but they're still idiots, don't worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The very first line I wrote for this story is tucked into this chapter and if it doesn't make some of you laugh and/or clap your hands with glee, then I have failed.

“I just,” Tony began after taking a sip of his seltzer. “I am just scared all the time. Every moment of every fucking day I am terrified that I’m going to fuck him up and it’s so overwhelming. All the decisions I have to make that I never thought I’d have to make alone, I never anticipated having this much power, and that kid in there is perfect and I am going to fuck it up and I just -”

Later, when Steve would reflect back on this night, he would say it was instinct he was following. Someone in front of him was spiraling and it was his duty as a fellow human being to offer comfort.

That’s all it was.

“Shhh,” Steve replied as he switched couches and sat down next to Tony. He put his arm around the smaller man and pulled him close, gently stroking his back. “It is so much. Parenting is so hard and no one has any idea what they’re doing. You have got to feel so lonely and that is so shitty, I’m so sorry. But let me tell you a trade secret: parents who are afraid of fucking up their kids don’t. All kids really need is a love that comes unconditionally and boundaries placed around their lives to keep them safe. That is it. Peter will encounter pain and you’ll make mistakes, but you two will survive whatever life throws at you, whatever consequences of whatever choices you both make because all that matters is that you love your kid and are doing what is best by him.”

“Are you sweet talking me to put him in your program?” Tony mumbled against Steve’s chest.

“Absolutely,” Steve replied, hoping he kept the smile out of his voice.

Tony took a deep breath and pulled back, surreptitiously wiping his eyes. “That the speech you give to all the parents in the middle of falling apart?”

“No,” Steve said, which shocked Tony into turning his head to look at the other man.

“No?”

Steve shook his head. “I work with parents all the time whose choices are going to make life real hard for their kids. Some of them are made with the best intentions, but mostly they’re made out of desperation or confusion or something more sinister, like the parents never wanting their kids in the first place. You are in none of those situations.” He paused to take a drink of his seltzer.

“Never had this flavor,” Steve smiled. “Anyway, if you want my full and honest opinion-”

“Which I’ve learned I’m getting no matter if I want it or not-”

“Your biggest challenge is going to be checking Peter’s privilege.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “No shit, Sherlock. That kid in there is almost four whole years old and worth, if I leave him everything and died tonight, $27 billion. That’s just fucking absurd. And my parents raised me to believe that we were owed that, or that I was actually worth that, and Pep taught me differently. So yes, I agree, which is why I surround him with all of you.”

Steve blinked and Tony chuckled. “You think my little band of do-gooders is an accident? Please. My parents surrounded me with all these people I should aspire to be, but not… not in a healthy way. Their aspirations were tied entirely to power, or status, or... “ he gestured wildly around his office, indicating the world outside its windows. “I’ve tasted that world and it’s horseshit."

“What I wanted for Peter was aspirations of greatness entirely tied to humanity. That was what Pepper gave me, she taught me that humans were the point, other humans, and I want Peter to know that, to grasp that deeper than anything else. That different people are different, and that love is never about control. That ‘family’ is about something much more sacred than blood. It’s the only way I know how to raise Pepper’s son.”

“It’s a really fucking beautiful way to do it,” Steve’s voice rasped over an emotion he was not prepared to examine. “Giving him that foundation is going to make life so much richer for him. Pun intended.”

Tony laughed and something shifted inside Steve, something that cracked his assumptions about Tony and changed how he saw the world. “But Tony, he’s your son, too.”

Tony blinked at Steve in confusion as the blond continued. “You talk a lot about the obligation you have to raise Pepper’s son well, and I love that, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t know your wife, but my guess is that if her ghost was here, she’d smack you and remind you that Peter’s your kid, too. He’s bright and curious and runs full blast at a million miles an hour - he’s your kid, too. You put good things in him just like Mrs. Stark did.”

Tony opened his mouth to respond, but the phone rang, alerting both men to Tony’s true purpose in the office - the call from Japan. Steve said he’d head back up to the apartment and Tony responded that he’d see him up there in a few minutes.

Steve headed straight for Peter’s room when he got off the elevator - even though Jarvis had already assured him approximately fifteen times that Peter was fine and sleeping soundly. The sight of the brown hair poking out from under the - what else - _Paw Patrol_ comforter settled Steve in a way that was probably an issue, considering Peter wasn’t his kid.

He paused briefly at the dresser in Peter’s room, looking at the framed photos on top. One of Peter as a baby, snuggled in what looked to be Mrs. Stark’s arms. There were other ones of Peter with Pathways staff members - Bucky included - and a few with Peter’s godfather, Colonel Rhodes. There was even one of him and Peter and Salty that warmed his heart. And then there was the one that stopped Steve in his tracks every time he left Peter’s room, the one he had to train himself not to look at.

He’d taken it, actually, about a month after he’d moved into the Tower, one quiet evening when the men and the boy were all piled into the living room, watching _Moana_ for the nine hundred and forty fourth time.

_“I swear I’ll explore the legal definition of audio terrorism if I hear that song one more time,” Tony muttered to Steve as Peter sang along enthusiastically with Maui. _

_“I can’t say the words ‘you’re welcome’ any more,” Steve confirmed, keeping his voice low. “Is it that _Hamilton_ guy we blame for this? He wrote the music, right?”_

_“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Tony replied. “I know Lin a little, I’ll just kill him the next time I see him.” _

_Steve muffled a laugh as Tony shifted off the couch and onto the floor where Peter was sitting, rapt attention on the dancing demigod. “Petey!”_

_Peter’s attention turned briefly towards his father and the pair started singing along together - including motions, and Steve stealthily grabbed his phone and just kept hitting the shutter button until they stopped. He’d captured a few adorable moments, but the one that was framed on Peter’s dresser was Steve’s favorite. Tony was gazing at his son with such adoration, such complete attention, and Peter was laughing so hard that his face was squished and his eyes were closed. _

Steve had heard Tony on the phone only moments before that exchange, telling some supplier in Indonesia or somewhere in that time zone that their proposals were awful and then relaying to Nat that he wasn’t sure how they were going to fix the screw-up. He knew that if Tony had picked up his phone, there would be dozens of Very Important People demanding his attention - but in that moment, the only human on the planet that mattered was Peter.

As far as Steve was concerned, being a dedicated parent was the sexiest thing on the planet. Throw in the smile, the brown eyes, the crack wit, and Tony’s ass… well, Steve was trying so hard not to make it a thing.

It was already a thing.

The elevator delivered Tony around 1am, and he was clearly surprised to see Steve sitting in the kitchen.

“The light in here is terrible,” Tony commented.

“I’m doing a shadow study,” Steve replied, not looking up. “So it’s actually okay, and it’s not like the light is better anywhere else right now.”

“Probably Japan,” Tony chuckled.

“You get what you wanted?”

“Always,” Tony winked, but the exhaustion behind it basically radiated off of him. For the first time, Steve paused to realize how overwhelming Tony’s life must be.

* * *

“Tea?” Steve pointed to the counter. “I hit the kettle on when Jarvis said you were coming up.”

“Is this your way of telling me to go to bed instead of the workshop?”

“It’s my way of saying that it’s 1am and the last thing you need right now is coffee, which I knew is what you were going to make, so I pre-empted you,” Steve replied, without even looking up from his sketchbook.

Tony abruptly flashed back to a scene in his life nearly ten years previous.

_“Tony. Coffee is not actually a substitute for water.”_

_“Pep, it is made of water. It is beans and water, the most natural substance I could put in my body!” Tony grinned at his girlfriend and delighted in how she rolled her eyes at him. _

_“I swear you need a keeper. Water. Or, tea, if you insist, but something gentler on your nervous system than that high octane sludge you insist on.”_

_“A: please stop speaking about my true love that way,” Tony replied while reaching for her. “And b, you’re gentler on my nervous system.”_

_She smiled into their kiss. “Good. Then I’m doing my job.”_

So while Tony waited for his tea to steep, he told Pepper he was amending his statement from the previous week. He was all the way in love with this very-obviously-straight-and potentially-dating-someone-named-Sam-but-otherwise-perfect-for-him man.

* * *

Something shifted between the two men after that night. There was still bickering, of course, but it took on a different tone. Steve glared less, for instance. He didn’t stop looking at Tony, necessarily, it’s just that Tony became more… distracting.

Like when Steve stumbled into the kitchen one morning to find Tony clad in a three-piece suit, jacket off and sleeves rolled up, doing dishes.

“Oh, Tony, I can do that, don’t get your suit dirty,” Steve said as he poured himself coffee.

Tony shifted enough on his hip to turn towards Steve that Tony’s ass managed to look even better and Steve had to focus extra hard to not scald himself on the coffee. “I’ve already been wearing this for twelve hours. Trust me, it’s already filthy.”

Neutral face, Steven. Neutral. Face. “Why have you been in a full suit for twelve hours?”

“Well, two reasons,” Tony returned his focus to the sink, where Steve saw he was scrubbing a ring off the oven burner. “First, I’ve been on phone calls with internationally located dickstains who can’t seem to respect time or logic and I refuse to make Bucky deal with any of these idiots because they’re so below his pay grade but we need them, so I can handle it, and two,” he twisted slightly to wink at Steve, “no one was around to take me out of it.”

There was a pause while Steve’s ears turned bright red and Tony turned back to the sink. “And then I tried to make that oatmeal you make for me sometimes and I burned it and somehow also managed to make it explode and so now I’m cleaning.”

Steve put his hand on Tony’s forearm. “Just go shower and go to bed. I’ll take it from here.”

“Nah, you get ready for the day and all. Petey’s already well into an episode of some cloying show about a giraffe, so you’ve got some time. I can shower once you two start therapy.”

“Tony, seriously,” Steve sighed. “It’s fine. I can scrub the kitchen.”

“It’s not your job, Steven,” Tony said, refusing to look over at him.

“I don’t mind-”

“No, Steve,” Tony put down the cleaning implements and turned towards Steve, who could then see that Tony had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt and it probably wouldn’t have been destroying Steve so slowly except that this exact scenario had featured in at least six dreams over the past two weeks.

_Shit, he’s talking_. Steve reprimanded himself and focused on Tony’s voice instead of his mouth.

“I don’t expect you to be a fucking servant, Steve, I have people who clean and who cook sometimes and do all of that. You’re not here for me - you made that clear when we were negotiating your contract - you’re here for Peter and I love that, and I’m not taking advantage of you, I refuse to, so no, focus on the kid, I’ll clean up my mess.”

Steve furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. “I’m not just here for Peter, Tony, I just… when I…” He ran a hand through his hair, still mussed from sleep. “I’m here to help raise Peter, and that includes taking care of his dad sometimes, too. I hear what you’re trying to do, and thanks, I get it, but no. Just go to bed.”

Tony gaped at Steve. “You’re not mad? You’re usually mad when I talk about money.”

Steve worried his bottom lip. “I’m learning to listen _past_ your words. Bucky told me that’s how they all get past your verbal vomit syndrome. To listen past the actual words to what you think they mean. And I think what you mean right now is that you don’t want to take advantage of me and so I’m saying, thanks, you’re not, please go to bed.”

Tony blinked at Steve a few times before agreeing. He wiped his wet hands on the suit trousers - Steve cringed at the dry cleaning bill - and tromped towards the stairs. At the base, he turned.

“I’m really grateful Bucky sent you to us. Like fucking Mary Poppins, you are. Practically perfect in every way. It would be fucking infuriating if you weren’t wonderful.”

And while Steve was busy locating all the pieces of his heart that had been exploded by that, Tony took himself to bed.

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #McGregorIsAHack_

_Steve: I think I’m really, really fucked on the pining front. _

_Sam: Oh?_

_Steve: Yeah. _

_Sam: Anything more than that?_

_Steve: I’m actually thinking about applying for another job. _

_Sam: You’ll never find a better one, though, pal. _

_Steve: Well, Peter has probably ruined me for all other children anyway. _

_Sam: You can be an adult, I promise. You can work with your crush. _

_Steve: Fine. Logic. _

Sam grinned and opened another chat.

_WhatsApp Chat: #SteveIsAnIdiot_

_Sam: You’re on track, buddy. _

_Bucky: Excellent. _

* * *

“Anthony Edward, you are not renting out the entire Bronx Zoo for a four-year-old’s party” Steve roared.

“Well, it’s that or hire five times the amount of security we normally do, so which one do you want me to choose?!”

Steve was silent at that and Tony took advantage.

“My son is one of the most famous children in New York City. Do you think that I give a living fuck about social conventions when it comes to keeping him safe? Newsflash, Rogers, the answer is no, and so I either disrupt everyone else’s day with a bevy of security guards that will surround us and make it look like the second coming of Beyonce is trolling through the zoo, or we rent it out. Pick a lane, Sally Social Worker.”

Steve’s jaw clenched. “Can you also offer free tickets to a certain amount of other school children?”

Tony brightened. “That’s a great idea, yes, we’ll do that, free admission for elementary schools that I’ll get Happy’s team to vet. Jarvis, you get that?”

“Already communicating with Mr. Hogan, Sir.”

“Great, make sure everyone knows it was my idea,” Tony winked at Steve, who rolled his eyes.

________________________

“I cannot believe you’ve never been to an actual art museum to look at art,” Steve shook his head.

Tony wiggled his eyebrows. “The alcoves are so multi-functional, though.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you got someone to blow you at the Guggenheim?” Steve sputtered.

Tony made a face. “Please, Rogers, nothing so pedestrian. I’m trying to tell you that masterworks made my wife… amorous.”

Steve paused for a few seconds and burst out laughing. “God, I wish I had known Mrs. Stark.”

“Pepper, “Tony corrected. “Call her Pepper. Because you do know her, in a way, and she’d want you to call her that.”

Steve’s eyes softened. “Well, then, I wish I had known Pepper.”

And if Tony’s first thought was _I don’t, because if she was here, I wouldn’t know you_, that was no one’s business but his own.

* * *

“Rogers?”

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t Barnes tell me about you, like the day after Pep’s funeral?”

The pair were in the Stark living room. _Derry Girls_ was playing on Netflix in the background - they’d seen it enough times to quote it verbatim - and Steve was doing some reading on linguistic theory to see if there was something he was missing about Peter.

“I don’t know, Tony,” Steve said simply, not making eye contact.

“You’re lying,” Tony narrowed his eyes. “You’re making the face.”

“There is no face. I’m making my face,” Steve replied, not looking up from his laptop.

“Is it because you hated me?”

The tone of Tony’s voice was … well, if Steve had to put a word on it, he probably would go with ‘raw’. In the months since they’d gotten to know each other, Steve had learned a few things about Tony Stark that he never would have guessed. Like that he was vulnerable, like that he was always afraid people would hate him if they got to know the ‘real’ him, like that he loved his friends so fiercely it was breathtaking to watch.

“Yes.”

Steve could only answer that raw question with a raw answer.

“Do you still?” Tony nearly whispered.

“No.”

It was only with Steve’s response that the pair felt brave enough to make eye contact.

“I,” Steve started. “The first weekend Bucky worked for you, we were supposed to do something and you had him cancel. The second weekend, the same. And we had to move his vacation days that first year because there was a crisis and I just got so mad. He started working 60-hour weeks and I never saw him and whenever I’d tell him to talk to you about boundaries, he’d tell me that everyone was working that hard and he wasn’t special.”

“Fuckssake, Barnes,” Tony muttered. “I told him-”

“I know that, now,” Steve smiled. “I know now that the crises were usually your staff making you go upstairs early to be with Peter so that you could mourn Pepper, or were because your old life kept creeping back in and you had investors to wrangle. I know now that you always sent everyone else home and they all refused to leave until the job was done. I know now that you are a good man, Tony Stark, and I was very, very wrong about you.”

The air was heavy with something that neither man was going to address. Tony spoke first.

“Thank you, Steve, that means a lot,” he smiled, a slightly weak version since most of his energy was occupied with not crying. “I’m… Well, I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“Me too,” Steve affirmed.

On the television, the girls discovered Michelle had stolen the chip shop board and the men were only too happy to lose themselves in the antics of 1990s teenagers so that they didn’t have to acknowledge whatever the hell had just happened between them.

* * *

Three months passed and Peter’s birthday was upon them all. The zoo had been rented out, invitations to various public schools sent, and Peter was beside himself with joy that Mr. James had told him they could see the otters together since otters were Mr. James’ favorite, too.

Keeping the boy focused on anything productive that week, therefore, was a lost cause. Steve had let Tony know he’d be taking the boy on a few adventures, but Tony wasn’t prepared when they showed up in the office with Tony’s favorite cupcake.

“Petey!” Tony exclaimed as his son proffered the baked good and Tony accepted the small pink box. “You remembered!”

Peter nodded, serious in his task. “Miss Darcy said small cakes are your favoritest in all of the whole world and so when Mr. Steve asked what we could do to make you bouncy even though you had a sad day, I knew it had to be small cakes and then we went and got your favorite.”

“Bouncy, Pete?” The occupational therapist and Steve had both been encouraging everyone to ask Peter to clarify what he meant if he used one of ‘his’ words.

Peter’s little brow furrowed. “Happy. Like how you move when you’re happy.”

Behind Peter’s head, Tony saw Darcy clasp her hand over her mouth and assumed that meant she found his son so precious she was about to explode. He knew the feeling.

“That’s right,” Tony smiled. “I do kinda bounce when I’m happy. That’s why Uncle Rhodey calls me Tigger sometimes.”

“Like from Pooh!” Peter brightened.

“Exactly, buddy,” Tony reached for Peter to give him a hug and folded the boy in his arms with joy.

“Well,” Steve cleared his throat. “We need to get to OT, don’t we, Peter?”

“But Mr. Steeeeeeeeeve,” Peter replied, his voice slightly muffled by Tony’s shirt.

“No, Peter, we had a deal.”

“I don’t like deals,” Peter muttered and Tony bit back a laugh.

“You like deals when they make you happy,” Steve corrected. “Which is why you were happy to go get Daddy his cupcake but now we have to do what makes _me_ happy and that’s going upstairs and working on your cards.”

Peter went floppy in Tony’s arms and huffed out a _fine_ before Tony put him back down on the floor. Steve and Peter made their way to the elevator, after Peter hugged all of his favorite people - which was the entire staff, for the record - individually, of course.

“Hey Tony,” Nat called out once the elevator doors were closed. “What kinda cupcake?”

“The banana coffee one I love,” Tony responded, taking a big bite. “I didn’t even tell Steve I liked this one.”

“You didn’t, huh,” Nat slid her eyes over to James’ office door, where the man had quickly retreated at the sound of Nat’s question.

“Nope,” Tony said. “Musta found out from one of you, so thanks, whoever.”

It took all of four seconds between when Tony disappeared into his office and when Nat showed up at the door of James’.

“You knew,” Nat shut the door to James’ office behind her.

He stifled a grin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Did you tell Steve about Tony’s weird banana coffee fetish?”

“No, why?”

“Wipe the fucking innocent smile off your face, Barnes,” Nat shook her head and laughed. “There’s one bakery that makes those weird cupcakes, and it is in Harlem. _Harlem_, James. Your boy went to _Harlem_ to get Tony a cupcake because we lost the account, and he’s saying it was the kid’s idea because why?”

Barnes was quiet for a few beats, seeming to weigh something in his head. Finally, he spoke. “Because I love Steve like a brother and Tony is a really great dude and they are both idiots.”

Nat let a slow smile spread across her face. “Tell me everything, I want in.”

James seemed to ponder that for a minute and then nodded. “Let me tell you a little about Steve, first, and why I didn’t introduce him to you yahoos initially.”

“I’ll admit, I’ve been wondering,” Nat said, helping herself to a Red Bull from James’ fridge.

“He’s not all the way out,” Barnes replied. “I mean, I’ve known him since we were in diapers, and he’s basically family, so I wanted to respect that - the whole closet thing. He’s a single dude who works with kids. Despite all of his training and all of his awards, he’s absolutely petrified he’ll lose his job if someone finds out that he’s gay. I cannot, and I mean cannot, talk him out of this because every time I make headway, he shows me some right wing ranty webpage where all gays are pedophiles and he’s back in his paranoid head and I just give up.

“However, the night he got his LMSW - he worked so fucking hard for that thing-“

“His what now?”

“Licensed Masters of Social Work, it’s a thing on top of his master’s degree that lets him be a one-on-one therapist. It was like, a ton of extra supervised hours and a big exam, and when he passed, on the first go let the record show, we had such a party that all of Flatbush was invited,” Barnes smiled at the memory. “Anyway, that night I made him promise that if he ever found a guy worth the risk, I’d paint myself as a glitter rainbow and help him come out.”

“And you think Stark is that guy?”

Barnes nodded. “I do. Listen, they fight like a fucking married couple, and Steve has basically emotionally adopted Peter. Their tempers aside, they’re both total marshmallows, Stark just comes with his hard candy shell, and they both want to spend their lives making other people’s better. Steve also has a serious thing for dudes who are smaller than him and whose mouths run a mile a minute.”

“Stark likes blondes,” Nat smirked. “I remember Rhodey telling me that’s how he knew Tony was serious about Pepper – she was the only non-blonde Tony had ever introduced him to. Also, that beard I think Steve is accidentally growing out of laziness? Tell him to keep it up.”

Barnes brightened. “Sadly, that’s groomed for our Steven, but yeah?”

Nat nodded. “He’s brought someone male back here four times since Pepper died. All one-night stands, Darcy chased them all down with NDAs, and they all had beards.”

Barnes made a note in his phone. “Got it. Any other tips?”

Nat pondered for a minute. “If Steve ever tells you that Tony told him about how he proposed to Pepper, our work here is done, and it’s just a matter of time.”

Barnes looked at her shrewdly, so she continued. “I’ve been that man’s right-hand person for years now and, I don’t know. I think only Happy knows, but he’s said that it was everything that was perfect about Pep and Tony, and only someone who really knew Tony would understand it. If Genius tells Muscle Man? I’ll start designing the invitations.”

Barnes cackled. “If Steve ever, and I mean ever, admits to Tony that he doesn’t feel well, then we’re golden. I’m the only one who gets that, he’s got some baggage from being sick a lot as a kid and he never lets anyone take care of him. He lets Stark near him when he’s got a head cold? I’ll start planning the bachelor party.”

“Which I will be attending,” Nat smirked.

“Natch, Tasha, natch.”

They held eyes for a few moments before both broke out in giggles. “We need a couple name for them,” Nat said.

“Way ahead of you,” Barnes said as he handed her a file folder. “Had to keep it on paper so Stark wouldn’t snoop or Jarvis wouldn’t rat me out, but Operation Stony is in Phase 3.”

“Fucking Marines,” Nat rolled her eyes and she flipped through the papers.

“Hoo rah, doll. Hoo rah.”

* * *

Shocking no one, the day at the zoo was both controlled chaos and a total success.

“Daaaaad,” Peter whined. “I wanna go with Mr. Jaaaaaaammmmeeeeessss.”

Bucky stepped up to address Peter, but Tony held up his hand. “Peter, you can. But first, you have to finish your lunch.”

“Peter.” Steve uttered one word and the child took a bite of his peanut butter and jelly.

“Mr. Steve,” Peter started as soon as he swallowed.

“Not open for negotiation, Peter,” Steve said firmly.

Peter glared at his nanny, making eye contact as he took a deliberate bite. Steve, not breaking eye contact, muttered to Tony, “Something tells me he inherited this from you.”

“Me?!” Tony said, batting his eyelashes with faux humility. “Why, I am the picture of cooperation.”

Bucky and Nat, who were hovering nearby, both coughed to cover their snorts.

Peter did get to see his beloved otters - and Mr. James had surprised him by asking one of the zookeepers to let Peter pet one - and the penguins, who he also adored and proceeded to waddle like a penguin throughout the rest of the day. They saw the lions - which is when Tony nearly swooned right out of his shoes, because Steve just effortlessly put Peter on his shoulders to let the child see better and the vision was like a punch of joy.

The giraffes - Nat’s favorites - and the gorillas - Steve’s favorites - were also on the agenda.

_“Mr. Steve, why do you like the angry ones?” _

_Steve calculated quickly. “The gorillas aren’t angry, Pete, they’re serious.”_

_“They look grumpy.”_

_“Well, I think they’re just quiet and keeping watch over everyone they love, making sure everything is okay. I like that.”_

_“I can’t imagine why,” Nat murmured with a raised eyebrow at her new friend._

By the time the day was over, Peter was dead on his feet.

“We can just go back to mine,” Bucky supplied as Steve hefted a sleeping Peter into his booster seat. He was just under the weight boundary for being allowed to sit in a regular seat and none of them were taking any chances.

Steve nodded. “The traffic right now, yeah. And that way Peter can take a bit of a nap on a flat surface and we can eat food that doesn’t come in an animal shaped container, and then you can head home once he’s a bit less dead weight, Tony.”

“Well, I’m heading home,” Darcy announced. “Got a super hot date with the Hallmark channel. Chad Michael Murray is in tonight’s movie.”

“Snarky blondes, Darce?” Bucky said before he could stop himself.

“Well, the blonde is negotiable, the snark is not,” she winked, said her goodbyes, and made her way to the subway station.

“You gonna do something about that, Barnes,” Tony smirked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bucky replied. “Okay, anyone else coming back?”

The other adults all declined as well, citing the need for showers (Nat) and introvert time (Wanda) and a need to not be around small people for a while (Clint).

So it was Bucky, Tony, and Steve sitting around the kitchen table when Peter woke up about an hour later. There were a few moments of panic when he couldn’t figure out quickly where he was, but Steve had gone right into the room when they’d heard Peter and calmly explained that Peter was in his room at his old house and was totally safe.

That part was easy. Getting Peter to leave the apartment was… proving to be a challenge.

“I want to be with Mr. Steve,” Peter whined.

“Well, Mr. Steve has the night off, buddy, and I think he and Mr. Bucky were going to do something.”

“We ain’t got plans, Stark, if the kid wants to play with Captain Awesome over there.” Bucky smirked.

“Yeah?” Tony’s entire demeanor brightened in a way that confirmed to Bucky that things were right on schedule.

“Yeah,” Bucky smiled. “We could do pizza and Mario Kart for a bit if you want? I might even have some of that gross seltzer you like.”

“Well, when you put it like that.”

Which is how Peter’s birthday devolved into a massive Mario Kart tournament between Tony, Bucky, and Steve, with Peter playing for his dad more often than not.

Pizza was ordered for dinner and Peter was put to bed not long after. There was some negotiation about a bath - because he was absolutely disgusting with sweat and sugar from a cotton candy incident earlier in the day and then an unidentified substance Tony prayed was pizza sauce and not dried blood - and finally Steve convinced Peter that baths were for big boys too, since clearly he and Bucky had a bathtub, too.

No one needed to tell the kid that neither Steve nor Bucky could fit into the bathtub which was clearly constructed for either a child or a Nat-sized adult. And so Tony went full dad-mode and gave his filthy child a bath while Steve washed out his clothes in the sink and then used a hair dryer to dry the boy’s underwear so at least he had something to sleep in.

“Are you sure we can stay?” Tony asked.

Bucky nodded. “Listen, Steve’s old bed is big enough for you and Peter if you don’t want to wake him, and Steve has slept on the couch a lot anyway.”

“He fits on the couch?” It was out of his mouth before he could stop it and Tony wasn’t sure how to feel about the smirk that crossed Barnes’ lips.

“Well, he ain’t getting in bed with me. That stopped when he grew to the size of a gorilla. Same amount of hair, too.”

While Tony was busy settling Peter, Bucky and Steve threw on another race.

“Can we be real serious for a minute, boyo?” Bucky said softly.

“Are you gonna finally tell me you made your move on Darcy?”

“What? No,” Bucky sputtered. “You and Stark.”

“You mean my boss and landlord?”

“Come off it, Steve,” Bucky said. “You clearly like the guy.”

“Have you been talking to Sam?”

“Have you been talking to Sam?” Bucky countered.

Steve glanced sideways at his friend quickly before turning his full attention to the screen. He issued some minor trash talk as they finished the race and then put his controller down.

“My options in this life are limited, Buck,” Steve sighed. “I love my job, I love this life, and just because I would like to do unmentionable things to that man doesn’t mean I actually will or even can. My ability to eat and pay my loans is more important to me than, you know, actually acting on my gay.”

“You’re gay?” Tony blurted from behind them and Steve scrambled off the couch Jesus Christ, how much did he hear. “I just figured all that bullshit from Barton was, you know, bullshit.”

Bucky laughed. “Steve is, I’m not.”

“This isn’t how I wanted to tell you,” Steve said quickly. “And if you need me to quit, I get it. I’ll just-“

Tony held up his hand. “Why is there talk of quitting?”

“Because I’m gay.”

“And I’m Tony. Nice to meet you.”

Steve made a face. “This is a big fucking deal, Tony.”

“Of course it is!” Tony responded. “Not for the reasons you think, though. You actually think I’m a fucking bigot that I would fire the best child care provider my kid has had since his mother because said provider likes dick? Hell, I like dick, it’s really not that remarkable. I mean it is the year of our lord two thousand and Lizzo, so Jesus wept we should be over some things by now. God, Steve. No, no,I reject your quitting. Reject. Now, I’m hungry. James, do you have any cereal? I’m feeling some Captain Crunch.”

Tony wandered into the kitchen with a gentle pat on Steve’s back as he passed, and Steve shot Bucky a bewildered look. “What just happened?”

Bucky smirked. “You came out to Stark, he told you you’re fucking amazing at your job, and he touched you without either one of you bruising the other. Pretty big win all around there, pal.”

Steve swallowed. “Did we know he was gay or bi or whatever too?”

“I think I did. There have been comments. Pan maybe? I remember Happy saying he hated labels.”

Steve blinked at Bucky a few times. “You knew.”

“No, I just said-”

“James. Buchanan. Barnes.”

Bucky took a long pull from his beer bottle before he looked dead at his best friend. “Yes, I knew. And no, I didn’t tell you. And yes, that’s why I waited so long to recommend you for this job, because you’re so careful about your sexuality and Tony flirts with everybody and I was worried you’d get in your head and quit over him calling you handsome and then we’d all be fucked. So, yes, I kept secrets, and no, I’m not sorry.”

“And you just casually outed me because?”

“Because I knew he wouldn’t care.”

Steve clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before Bucky continued.

“Buddy, you deserve to be who you are all the time. I get not letting that happen, I really do, and if this is a way that I fucked up, I’m sorry, but Tony is one of the best men I know. You’re the other. I’ll make sure he knows you’re really -”

“No,” Steve interrupted. “I’ll explain. I’m not happy with you right now, Buck, not even a little, but I’ll -”

He stood up abruptly and wandered into the kitchen. Bucky got his phone out.

_WhatsApp Chat: #TeamStony_

_Barnes: I may have pushed too hard. _

_Nat: What the fuck did you do? The zoo was perfect - they made googly eyes all day. _

_Barnes: I outed Steve. _

_Nat: You fucking WHAT. _

_Barnes: To Tony. Just to Tony. _

_Nat: Still. _

_Nat: There’s playing matchmaker and then there’s being a dick. _

_Barnes: I know. _

_Nat: Did you use your words like a big boy?_

_Barnes: Fuck off, Romanov. _

_Barnes: But yes. _

_Nat: K. Keep me posted. _

_Nat: But seriously, Barnes. _

_Barnes: I know. I’m ordering apology cupcakes now. _

* * *

Steve found Tony sitting at Bucky’s kitchen table, eating what looked like, indeed, Captain Crunch.

“So, Sam. Not your girlfriend?”

“Sam?” Steve laughed. “Sam is a six-foot 275lb heterosexual _man_ who has been my friend since middle school. So no, Sam is not my girlfriend. Why did you think he was?”

Instead of answering that, Tony took several bites of his cereal and continued to stare at Steve. “Let me guess,” the genius said between bites. “You’re not out.”

Steve shook his head. “To family, yes, but to everyone else, no.”

Tony nodded. “Do you want to be?”

“I want to keep my job.”

“Well, I’ve just spent the last few minutes thinking of every single scenario under which I would fire you, and you’re capable of none of them, so your job is safe.”

“Until you don’t need me anymore,” Steve replied. “Until Peter’s in school full time, or whenever else you plan on not needing me.”

Tony deliberately put down his spoon. “Steven Rogers, listen to me very, very carefully. I will _never_ not need you. _Peter_ will never not need you. If you so choose to leave my employ when Peter goes to school, you will still be Mr. Steve for the rest of forever and I will still need you to help raise my kid. If anyone ever implies that you are not qualified for any position on this planet that you would like to interview for because you are gay, I will _end_ them. I will positively destroy them and take great joy in doing so. Do you understand me?”

Steve was shocked into silence, so Tony got up from his seat and went to the other man. Placing a hand on Steve’s cheek, he lowered his voice. “You are so good, Steve. Just, so, so good. I mean, also a completely self-righteous dickhead sometimes, but that somehow only makes you more good. I don’t quite know how you do it. But you are also mine now - you are part of this island of misfit toys and I protect my own. Always.” He patted Steve’s cheek to signal his speech was done.

“Now, on second thought, I think I need to get my kid to his actual bed,” Tony smiled in the direction of Steve’s old bedroom. “Do you want to hang with Barnes or-”

“No, I’m coming home,” Steve said quickly, refusing to fully acknowledge how light his heart felt at the word ‘home’ or the way Tony’s eyes flashed when he said it.

“Got it,” Tony replied. “I’ll call Happy, you get our boy.”

_Well, let’s just gloss over that quickly, shall we,_ Tony said to himself as he pulled out his phone. _And, Pepper, my beloved, I’m really fucked, aren’t I? Really, really fucked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go, folks! See you on the 23rd!
> 
> Also, thank you beyond words for your comments, DMs, re-blogs, etc. about this thing. Marie and I cherish each one!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The idiots finally stop pining and actually _use their words_ (and their mouths).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _sigh_
> 
> Thank you all so, so, so, so much for letting us know that you've enjoyed this wee story. Like we've said before, we hold this one dear to our hearts for various reasons and we're thrilled it's resonating with so many people. 
> 
> Thanks again to the CapBB mods for all their hard work to make this event happen and to all the creators who have worked so hard to provide incredible content. Please make sure to peruse the collection - it's insane.

“Did you finish the registration?” Steve asked Tony one morning.

“For Brightside? Yes,” Tony smiled at Steve briefly. “He’ll go to your STEAM school, Stevo.”

Steve grinned. “You’re making the right decision.”

“You made it for us,” Tony said, without any malice in his voice. “And you were right.”

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #ParentingPeter_

_Steve: I see that name change. _

_Tony: The old one felt pedestrian. _

_Steve: Well, I like it better than the #SteveTheManny phase you went through there for a bit_

_Tony: You should just be glad I didn’t call you Nanny Steve and give you a theme song. _

_Steve: I'm not from Queens. _

_Tony: Oh, I know. I’ve heard the lectures. I think you and Barnes have powerpoints at the ready at all times in case any of us ever dare to mix up the boroughs. _

_Tony: What do you want for dinner? I’m too tired to cook. _

_Steve: I can handle it. What do you want?_

_Tony: No, it’s my night. It’s right here on the little chart you made. I read all the damn articles about home cooked food being important for Peter and that we create a culture of eating at the table and focusing on him and blah blah blah blah, but I just spent three hours yelling at an idiot intern who potentially disclosed state secrets to a spy because they couldn’t keep their dick in their pants and I’m not cooking. What do you want. _

_Tony: Steve. It’s been five minutes. I know it’s a big decision with all the take out options available to us in Manhattan, but you always get one of four things so this is not that hard. _

_Steve: Peter and I just want you to come home and we’ll take care of everything. _

_Steve: *photo attached*_

_Steve: See? We’re already chopping vegetables. _

_Steve: He also needs to learn that sometimes people have hard days, and we take care of people we love. _

_Steve: *photo attached*_

_Steve: Don’t worry about anything, Tony. We’ve got you. _

* * *

“I didn’t get her a ring until Peter was born,” Tony said quietly as he watched Steve shuffle Peter’s dead weight back into the stroller.

Peter had been exceptionally obnoxious the entire day with tantrums only an excitable four-year-old could pull off. After dinner, Steve had told Tony that he was thinking of taking Peter over to Central Park for some play time, hoping it might exhaust the kid enough that he’d sleep. Tony decided to shut down his laptop for the night and join them.

“Like, any ring at all, or specifically an engagement ring?”

“I never bought her jewelry,” Tony replied. “She hated it. By the time we fumbled our way into being together, we’d known each other for a decade, and I started to ask her to marry me on our third official date. She kept blowing it off, thinking I was joking, telling me we weren’t ready and all of that, so when it was really time, I knew it couldn’t be with a ring.”

“So, whuddya do?”

“I gave her my five-year sobriety chip.”

Steve paused his steps, but kept the stroller moving, and Tony’s heart clenched at how focused this man was on his kid. “That’s… so how long now?”

“I went into rehab when I was 22, we started dating when I was 24, got married at 28, and we had Peter quickly after that.” Tony continued as they strolled. “I’ve been sober for 9 years and three months.”

“That’s incredible, Tony. Just… incredible.”

“It’s a fuck ton of work, is what it is.” Tony laughed quietly. “And while Pepper is not the only reason I got sober, she was the one who made it possible for me to do the work to stay sober. So, the best way I knew to tell her that she was my plumb line, she was my center, was to show her that she already was.”

“I can’t imagine having a love like that.” Steve mused. “Family wise, that’s Buck for me, but in terms of the happily ever after? To find a man who would love me like you and Pepper… beyond my wildest.”

“When did you know about the men thing?” Tony responded, reaching for control of the stroller and pointing the two of them down the path that would lead back to the edge of the park. Peter was fairly conked out, and it was a good time to risk transferring him to a bed.

“I was 15 when I knew for sure, and told Bucky about six seconds later, and 20 before I did anything about it.” Steve replied. “It’s not something I talk about much, in my line of work, men working with children is suspect enough for some folks. A gay man? Seven levels of no-go, so I’m pretty quiet.”

“Any relationships?”

“One,” Steve’s smile curled sadly. “in Grad school. He was in law school. It went badly. Haven’t found anyone worth the risk since.”

“And you said you were out to your family?”

“Yeah, but not in the way you think,” Steve responded. “Never knew my dad, and Ma died when I was 10 and the Barnes’ took me in. Except for when Buck was overseas, I’ve lived with him ever since then. He’s my brother.”

“That feels like something James would have told us,” Tony remarked.

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know why he didn’t. I tell everyone, but Buck’s got weird boundaries, there are things he’ll tell everyone that I’d never breathe to another soul and other things he won’t share at all. Like, how many sisters do you know we have?”

Tony blinked. “There are sisters?”

Steve laughed. “Four. We have four younger sisters and we live in fucking fear of them every day.”

The pair continued their walk back towards their building and both men were grateful when the transfer of Peter from stroller to bed was, indeed, successful.

“Thanks, Tony,” Steve said quietly as he shut Peter’s door behind them. “For telling me all that about Pepper.”

Tony waved it off, but Steve caught his hand mid-air.

“No, Tony, I know what a big deal that was for you,” Steve squeezed his hand gently. “I just want you to know that I know that, and I’m really honored. So, thank you.”

Tony cleared his throat and looked briefly at their hands before taking his away. “You’re, uh, welcome, Rogers. See you tomorrow.”

Steve stared after Tony’s retreating figure for several seconds too long. _Right. So I’m in love with my boss._

* * *

Tony didn’t let out the breath he was holding until he was safely on the other side of his bedroom door. _Okay, so, I’m clearly going to need to buy a lot more lotion. Maybe just buying stock in Jergens at this point, because fuck, I’m gone for that man._

* * *

_WhatsApp Chat: #TeamStony_

_Barnes: I’m adding Sam to this so I’m not typing it nine hundred times. _

_Nat: I’m adding Darcy. _

_Barnes: You told Darcy? _

_Darcy: Yes, she told me, you idiot, and you should have. I’m the keeper of Tony’s schedule! We could have been playing chess over here and you’re still on checkers._

_Sam: I like her. _

_Darcy: Oh, are you James’ hot friend? _

_Barnes: Darcy Elizabeth. Focus. I don’t know any details, not really, but I just had breakfast with Steve and Tony told Steve about Pepper, and something about how long Tony’s been sober. Steve is so in love with Tony I’m physically pained by it. So, mutually pining idiots. _

_Nat: Great. Okay. Operation Stony is right on schedule. _

_Barnes: Now just to get Steve to get sick. _

_Darcy: I’m not infecting your best friend with West Nile or something. _

_Barnes: Good, not asking you to. I’m sure something will come up, doll. _

_Nat: The Brooklyn is not as charming as you think it is. _

_Barnes: It is exactly as charming as I think it is. _

_Darcy: Confirmed._

* * *

“Dad, why is Mr. Steve so upset?” Peter asked one Tuesday morning. Tony had just been in the workshop, and had emerged to find Peter in the kitchen with no Steve.

“I don’t know Peter, I didn’t know he was upset,” Tony sat and motioned for Peter to come climb into his lap, which he happily did. _My little cuddlebug. For who knows how much longer, though._

“I went to go ask to watch puppies like I’m ‘sposed to, but he was loud.”

“Loud like yelling?”

Peter nodded. “Louder than you.”

_Well, this is something serious then._ “Okay, honey, I’m going to go check on Mr. Steve. Can you do me a big favor and go to your room to read for a little while?”

“How long?”

“However long it takes me to take care of Mr. Steve,” Tony replied, kissing his son’s head and ignoring the double entendre he wandered into. Peter scrambled off Tony’s lap with a salute - he and Steve had been learning ways to say Peter understood without having to use words - and happily tromped off to his room.

“And I don’t care whose fault it is, Tabitha, I need someone to FIX IT,” Steve roared so loudly that Tony could hear it through the closed door. He gently pushed it open and stepped through to the sight of Steve pacing a hole in the floor and screaming into a cell phone.

“But I the money was in the account,” Steve emphasized. “I don’t understand. No, please don’t put me back on hold, please, please, fuck.” He collapsed onto his bed and finally noticed Tony. He quickly glanced at his watch and then back up and met Tony’s eyes.

“Shit, I ignored Peter.”

“He’s safe and in his room. Presumably reading, but most likely playing with that Lego set Nat just bought him. He heard you yelling and came to get me, wondering why you were upset.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve let out a sigh. “I promised him pancakes this morning.”

“He’ll survive the disappointment,” Tony said wryly and sat gingerly down on Steve’s bed next to him. “What’s up, big guy?”

“I… it’s nothing. I’ll fix it.”

“You have never yelled into a telephone since I met you, so imma call bullshit on that,” Tony grinned and knocked his shoulder into Steve.

Steve smiled, but Tony noticed it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve defaulted on my biggest loan.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I woke up to a voicemail this morning from someone at Citizens - who holds most of my student loans at this point - that they were calling in all of my loans with them since I’d defaulted on the primary one,” Steve wiped at his eyes quickly. “Turns out, the bank account I thought I’d been transferring my paycheck into to try to pay them down faster wasn’t linked correctly and I’ve now missed six straight months of payments. So, I took this job to get out of debt faster and now I’ll never get out.”

“That’s an easy fix, though,” Tony said calmly.

“For you, maybe,” Steve laughed. “But I don’t have $120k laying around for a rainy day. And I need that by next week so they don’t make me declare bankruptcy. And this is the fourth person I’ve been on hold with and no one will tell me what to do-”

Tony reached over and gently took Steve’s phone and hit the ‘hang up’ button.

“Why the fuck did you do that?”

“Because those idiots aren’t going to get you anywhere. What you’re going to do now is go downstairs and have Darcy call Alistair Windsor at Bank of America. Tell her it’s for my personal accounts and that we need him sometime tomorrow. He’ll make time for us,” Tony said calmly.

“This isn’t your problem,” Steve said. “I can -”

Tony put a finger over Steve’s lips. “You know, you big fucking hypocrite, you should listen to those lessons you teach my son every once and a while. We do things for people who are important to us.”

Steve twisted his head ever so slightly and met Tony’s eyes. “I don’t want to be a burden. I can-”

“Steven,” Tony’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Since you walked into my life, all you have done is proven that you can. I know you can. I know you could solve this, but it would be painful and long and I’m 100% positive that some idiot button pusher would make your life so much harder than it has to be. I can also solve this, and my way will be faster, and will never include the threat of bankruptcy, and will still let you keep your promise to Peter to spend the day with him teaching him how to make pancakes. What’s your call?”

“You’re very good at this,” Steve whispered back, afraid to break the bubble of intimacy they’d created.

“What?”

“Talking. Solving problems. Making me feel not alone.”

Tony smiled. “Well, you make it all easy.”

“Is talking the only thing you’re good at?” Steve said in a burst of simultaneous bravery and fear.

“What?” Tony’s voice cracked as his eyes darted all over Steve’s face, looking for translation.

“With your mouth. Is talking all it’s good for? Because I wonder-”

When Tony felt Steve’s lips meet his, something in him _settled_. When Steve pressed his tongue at the seam of Tony’s closed mouth, forcing it open and moved his hands to the back of Tony’s neck to change the position of his head, something in Tony lit on fire.

Without even realizing it, he twisted himself to face Steve completely and pushed the taller man onto his back. Straddling Steve without breaking mouth contact, Tony vaguely registered that this probably wasn’t a good idea but gave somewhere around zero fucks about it.

Steve gave as good as he got and soon the pair were a mess of wandering hands and murmured ‘yes’es and heavy breathing. Tony ground his hips repeatedly into Steve’s, rewarded with the feel of each of their swelling erections brushing against each other through the fabric of their respective trousers.

Finally, Tony realized he did actually have to breathe and pulled back. He was rewarded with a look on Steve’s face he’d treasure forever - lips swollen, pupils blown, beard slightly damp with saliva, and a grin that told Tony he’d been wanting that as long as Tony had.

What a fucking shame they could never do it again.

“So, that happened,” Tony cleared his throat.

“It did,” Steve nodded, not moving a muscle. “Are you-”

“I don’t know if it can happen again,” Tony blurted. “Peter.”

“Of course,” Steve nodded once more.

“Well, uh,” Tony scrambled off Steve’s lap. “I’m going to go see Peter and then I’ll head down to the office. You’ll go see Darcy and we’ll fix this silly banking thing.”

“Right,” Steve said.

“Okay. See you later.”

“Later, Tony,” Steve breathed and Tony tripped over his feet as he stumbled back out of Steve’s bedroom.

He made a beeline for his son, kissed Peter on the forehead and told him to be a good boy for Mr. Steve that day because he’d been very sad.

“Did you fix it, Daddy?” Peter tore his eyes away from the television with clear pain.

“Well, you and Mr. Steve have to go see Miss Darcy in a little bit, and that will help,” Tony affirmed.

“I can help, too?” Peter brightened at that. “Mr. Steve needs my help?”

“He does, bugaboo, he does indeed.”

“I like being a helper,” Peter said.

Tony’s heart swelled and then pinched at the memory of Steve saying that he was a good helper. _Fuck, I cannot go there, heart. Get it together._

* * *

_Slack Private Channel: #SeniorStaffNoTony_

_Darcy: Reminder everyone - Peter starts school tomorrow._

_Clint: Oh, good. Something else for Tony to be in a fucking mood about. _

_Wanda: He hasn’t been that bad, guys. _

_Clint: Wanda. He’s been a dick. _

_Clint: Barnes. You have been suspiciously quiet on the Tony-Being-A-Dick front. _

_Barnes: If you make a joke about me sucking his, I’ll actually just kill you. _

_Nat: I’d help. _

_Clint: Geezus fuck, you two. _

_Clint: It’s been, what, three weeks? _

_Wanda: Since he and Steve had that long meeting with Alistair. _

_Darcy: Four weeks and three days. I just looked at the calendar. _

_Clint: Well, he better snap the fuck out of it by next week. If he blows the pitch with Zappos that we have been working on since last year because he’s in a funk… _

_Nat: When in any of our lives with Tony has he blown a pitch because of something happening in his life? Never. He’s blown it a few times because someone in the room was an ass, or that one time we didn’t have his back with the right data, but he’ll land that pitch, so we all better have our A games on, because come next week, Zappos is your biggest account, Barnes. _

_Barnes: And please god, I get to hire more people. _

_Darcy: Back to Tony. Tomorrow. Everyone be extra kind. _

_Darcy: Or I will kill you. _

_Darcy: And I mean it._

* * *

Tony hadn’t thought about the box in a while. When Pepper was sick, she’d started writing letters to him and Peter and kept them secret. She’d put them in labeled envelopes and in a box she’d sprayed with her perfume and told Tony that it was everything she could think of that she’d want them to know.

As he’d stood at the door of the classroom that morning, watching Peter start preschool, he’d hoped to God that Pepper had wisdom for him because he was flailing.

_“He’s ready, Tony,” Steve said the night before. “His verbal language skills are nearly on par with his age group - he really only slips up when he’s scared these days - and his everything else is ahead. It’s time for him to make some friends his own age and he’s ready. You tell him all the time that he can do hard things.”_

_“Yeah, but I didn’t say I could,” Tony replied, sniffing back a few tears. _

_Steve laughed gently. “Tony, you eat hard for breakfast.”_

_A beat passed. _

_“That came out wrong.”_

_Tony began to guffaw. “Well, not if you were hitting on me.”_

_Steve blushed and cleared his throat. “He’s ready and you will be. Just trust your kid.”_

He got the box out from its hiding space and walked to the workshop. For this, he needed to be around these pieces of his life with Pepper.

He greeted U, and DUM-E, noting that Butterfingers was clutching a blanket and hovering, not sure if Tony would need comfort. He smiled at his first children - the ones born out of various levels of sobriety, yet always innately his - and began to flip through the stack of his letters. For when you want to give up, read one. Another read for the first time Peter likes a girl (or a boy!). For the first time he chooses his friends over you, for the first time you play tooth fairy, for whenever you need to tell him stories about me. Finally, he found the one he was looking for: For our boy’s first day of school.

He opened the envelope and let Pepper’s words wash over him, composed in her neat handwriting and smelling faintly of Marc Jacobs’ “Daisy”.

_Anthony - _

_He’s no longer just ours. This is when other people start to help him learn who he is and learn about the world. _

_“Well, Pep, I actually accelerated that process, since you had to up and fucking die on me,” Tony muttered out loud. “But point taken.”_

_But I’m sure today is terrible. So I hope you’ve planned something special for the two of you to do - or the two of you and whoever else you’ve let into your lives since I’ve gone. Remember, you can do hard things, but you can’t do them alone. _

_I love you, _

_Virginia_

He smiled. That phrase was how she ended every single letter, because she knew he’d need the reminder.

He was about to put the letter back in the box when he noticed another title. For when you fall in love with someone else.

“Okay, that’s creepy.”

_Anthony - _

_Go for it. _

_Whoever she is, whoever he is, whoever they are - I trust you. I know whoever you’ve given your heart to loves Peter, too, and Peter loves them, because I’m watching you hold our son and no force on earth is ever going to tear the two of you apart. _

_So, go for it. I bless it and I wish I could know them. But, I’ll see you on the other side, my love, and I’ll meet them then. _

_You can do hard things - and you will, and you must, and you will change the world - but you cannot do them alone. _

_I love you for all time and beyond it, _

_Virginia_

He laughed through the tears streaming down his face. “I’ve been asking you for months what I was supposed to do about Steve, and of course you answered me before you even died. God, I married up, didn’t I?”

He sighed. “Okay, Pep, I hear ya. Loud and clear. I’ll be marrying up the second time, too, as long as he’ll have me, because I never thought someone could love Peter as much as you and I, but holy fuck, he’s there. And he makes me… he calms me. He’s everything you’d ever want for me, I think. He makes sobriety easier. There were those few months there, but we’ve talked about them, and you know, but he makes it easier.

“So, yeah, hear you loud and clear, Pep. I’ll tell him soon. I promise.”

* * *

Tony stood in his office and heard his entire staff losing their collective minds behind him. They’d all been in the office since 5am that morning, prepping for a pitch that was slated to start at 8:30 and run until 10. When it was over and Barnes escorted the executives from Zappos’ Corporate Conscience division onto the elevator at 10:47, the staff had exploded into cheerful chaos. They’d done it. The goal they’d set the previous year of getting a $25 million commitment over five years from a Fortune 500 company had happened - and it had happened two years earlier than Tony had predicted.

Sometimes he loved to be wrong.

“Hey bossman,” Bucky called from the doorway. “We have your gross seltzer.”

Tony smiled and turned. “You did good in there, Barnes.”

“Bucky,” the other man responded, his voice even.

“That’s what Steve calls you,” Tony replied, meeting the other man’s eyes.

“That’s what _my family_ calls me,” Bucky corrected. “I know Steve told ya about our pack of sisters, who are all now clamoring to meet Peter, by the way, so I’m sorry in advance.”

“Why do your sisters want to meet Peter? We’re not your family,” Tony shook his head.

“Aren’t you?” Bucky said with a wink before he crossed the room and pulled Tony into a hug. “You and him, man, the two best dudes on the planet.”

As Barnes, no, _Bucky_, walked out of Tony’s office, the weight of what he’d just implied hit Tony like a freight train. _He knows I love Steve. And he knows Steve feels something at least kinda similar. He just gave his version of Pepper’s blessing. What the living fuck am I waiting for?_

He stepped out into the general area and whistled for silence. “Hey, you adorable lunatics, Nat’s got the corporate card, why don’t you all head to that all-you-can-eat dim sum place you love and have lunch on me. You all crushed it this morning, so take an extra hour tomorrow. I don’t want to see any of you before 10.”

After the collective cheer died down, Nat called, “you coming with us?”

Tony shook his head. “I have crow to eat.”

He made eye contact with Bucky, who gave him a thumbs up and a wink, and then took off for the elevator without a second thought.

It was six floors - the ride between the office and the penthouse. Six floors that took at least seventeen years to pass through. When the elevator opened into the apartment, he called for Steve immediately and heard that he was in the kitchen.

“How did it go?”

Tony smiled at the sight before him. Steve clearly had not showered yet, because his hair was still standing up all over the place from sleep and he was in pajama bottoms and a ratty old t-shirt. An apron was casually thrown over the ensemble because Steve was - hand to God - making bread.

“Oh, we crushed it, all $25 million, didn’t even blink,” Tony waved his hand, as though dismissing twenty-five million dollars like it was nothing.

Which, compared to what he was about to do, was true.

“Tony, that is amazing!” Steve put down the dough he’d been working and wiped the flour off of his hands.

“That’s not why I’m here, though.”

“You’re not here to tell me that your biggest professional goal has been reached two years early?”

_How does he remember that? Nat didn’t even remember that._ “I’m here because I realized something very important. Every single other time something amazing has happened, even since Pep died, I’ve wanted to tell Pep. But this time? This time, I went to call you.”

Steve took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because I decided to just come here right now,” Tony took a step closer to Steve. “Because I realized that I didn’t just want to call you, I didn’t just want to hear your voice, I wanted to see you, and touch you and… fuck, Steve, I’m in love with you.”

“Me too,” Steve whispered, but Tony didn’t hear him, because he was on a roll.

“I’m in love with you, and I have been for a while, probably since the night in my office where you told me you loved Peter, and I was so scared to tell you because you were straight and then I found out you weren’t and I’ve tried so hard to keep my hands to myself, I swear, I swear Steve, but then you kissed me and I can’t-”

Tony’s speech was cut off by Steve’s lips on his. He let himself melt into Steve’s embrace and began running his hands through Steve’s hair, just the way he’d wanted to do for so long. He let Steve’s tongue force its way inside his mouth and the pair just clung to each other for several beats.

“I said,” Steve whispered as he pulled away, “me too.”

“Good,” Tony breathed.

“I thought so,” Steve replied.

“I’m now covered in flour, aren’t I,” Tony whispered.

“You’re washable,” Steve murmured and trailed kisses along Tony’s jawline.

“Peter is-”

“At preschool.”

“For?”

“Two more hours.”

“Oh thank fuck,” Tony said, as he reached his hands under Steve’s shirt to start taking it off.

“I love you, Tony Stark,” Steve said as he peeled Tony out of his jacket and loosened the tie.

“I love you, Steve Rogers,” Tony giggled just a little as they both continued to shuck clothing and stumble their way towards Tony’s room.

* * *

_ **Epilogue** _

“Sweetheart,” Tony called towards the bathroom. Steve had just fully moved into Tony’s room the night before after a conversation with Peter.

_“So, you and Mr. Steve are going to be in the same room? All the time?”_

_Tony nodded seriously. “We love you and now we love each other and so we’re going to share a room. Is that okay?”_

_“Like a mommy and daddy?”_

_“Yup, buddy,” Steve affirmed. “Just like a mommy and daddy.”_

_“Or a daddy and daddy,” Tony added. _

_Peter blinked a few times at each of them. “So if I want pancakes, I come to one room now instead of both?”_

_“Exactly,” Steve laughed, not surprised that Peter would drill down to the most important things quickly._

“Hold on, brushing my teeth quickly, can’t really hear you,” Steve called back.

Tony stretched in the bed, luxuriating like a cat in the sun, and curled himself back into the spot that was still warm from Steve’s body. Adding sex to their already-committed relationship had been exciting and new and fun and all the other words good sex came with. However, what they hadn’t really been able to add before the move was the snuggling. Tony had hit a place in his feelings about Steve where he was now craving the cuddling.

“What’s up?” Steve re-emerged from the bathroom, his beard a little damp in spots, but his smile wide.

“I was promised cuddles,” Tony whined.

“Oh were you?” Steve smirked. “And when exactly were you made this promise?”

Tony glared at him, but without any actual anger behind it. “Implied in the boyfriend title.”

“Ah,” Steve smiled as he climbed back into bed and shuffled Tony into the small spoon position. “In other words, you assumed I’m a mind reader.”

“Just shut up and cuddle me, Rogers,” Tony sighed.

Steve’s soft chuckle warmed Tony’s ear. “My pleasure, Stark.”

* * *

The most difficult part of the process was sourcing the wood. Steve was adamant that it was banyan wood, even though Bucky was pretty sure no one would know the difference, but his best friend was a weirdo when it came to being sentimental.

And, Bucky had learned, a banyan tree was symbolic. Indigenous to India, a banyan tree had deep roots and wide branches and frequently served as the center of a given community. They were the gathering place where people found shelter and found each other and around which the community did life.

For Steve, nothing described Tony better.

And as Bucky helped Steve heft it into place, he realized he agreed.

“What’s going in the groove thing on top?” Bucky asked.

Steve grinned. “Well, that’s where I need your help.”

“Helping you carry a thirty thousand pound table because you’re too cheap to hire actual movers even though you’re marrying an actual generational billionaire wasn’t helping?”

“No, that was just best man duties,” Steve grinned. “Now, I need to call in almost-probably-godfather duties.”

Bucky was a bit shocked by the tears that rushed hot to his face. “Are you serious?”

Steve crossed the kitchen and pulled Bucky into a hug. “The adoption goes through about a week after the wedding, and the lawyers said it was a good time to update Peter’s legal guardians. Tony’s had Rhodey down for a while, but we’d like to add you and Nat, if you’d consider.”

“Are you kidding me? Consider? Pal, Peter’s already never getting rid of me, of course.” Bucky grinned as he pulled out of the hug. “But what does that have to do with the weird cut-out of the table?”

“Well, Peter and I are going to make a mosaic on top. I need you to get Tony out of the apartment for about four hours tonight.”

“Tonight.”

Steve nodded.

“Two nights before your wedding.”

“Correct.”

“Do you expect me to accomplish this via jaws of life? He hasn’t left your side in days,” Bucky complained.

Steve shrugged and checked his watch. “I don’t care. All I know is that Nat is dropping Peter off in about thirty minutes and I need Tony out of here by then, so godspeed buddy, and thanks.”

Bucky gaped for about two beats before he started laughing. “Fine, you dick, but I’m taking your credit card.”

Steve waved him off and started focusing on the table project. By the time he got all the supplies laid out, Peter was walking off the elevator.

“Hey Pops,” Peter called, with all the confidence of a six-year-old who knew he was loved by the man he was addressing. The name still stopped Steve’s heart for a beat when he heard it and he hoped he never lost the wonder.

“Hey buddy,” Steve turned to give Peter a hug. “You ready to get started?”

Peter nodded eagerly and picked up the tile pieces before him. For the next several hours, Peter and Steve placed artifacts and shaped mortar and told stories as they crafted what would be their new kitchen table. When they both deemed it complete, Steve placed the glass top into its place and the pair marveled at their handiwork.

“You think he’s gonna like it?” Peter’s voice had a slight waver and Steve was reminded that this was a big week for all of them.

“I do, kiddo, I really do.” He checked his watch and sent a quick text. “Your dad and Buck should be back soon.”

“Hey Pops?”

“Yeah?”

“When Uncle Bucky finally asks Miss Darcy to marry him, do I get to call her Aunt Darcy?”

Steve had to hide a grin. The last time he talked to either Darcy or Bucky about their entirely-sex-based-according-to-them-but-they-were-fooling-no-one relationship, they both swore they’d never settle down. Sure, he snorted internally. Just like you were never sleeping together, or moving in together. “You’ll have to ask Miss Darcy, buddy. In fact, I think you should do that at the wedding.”

Peter giggled a little and asked if he could go play Wii until Tony arrived.

About fifteen minutes later, Jarvis announced Tony was on his way up from the garage and Steve muttered showtime to himself as Peter abandoned Mario Kart with a gleeful ease.

“Dad!” Peter bounced up and down on his feet as he struggled to stay still. “We have to show you the new table!” He dragged Tony from the elevator into the kitchen. Tony stopped short when he saw the table.

“Banyan wood,” Steve said before Tony could respond. “Because you are our banyan tree. Not just mine and Peter’s, but Bucky’s, and Nat’s, and Rhodey’s, and Happy’s, and Darcy’s, and everyone’s. Even that new kid, the annoying one -”

“Jose.” He sounded just a little out of breath.

“Right, Jose. You gather us together and give us a safe space to do life. You are our banyan tree.”

Tony made a gesture with his hand that Steve took as being blown off, so he crossed the room to take Tony’s hands in his. “No, you’re going to stand there and accept genuine human emotion, Anthony.”

Tony barked out a laugh that lead quickly to tears.

“Dad, but the top! You have to see the top! That’s what Pops and I have been doing while you were with Uncle Bucky!”

Tony quirked a glance at Steve as Peter began to narrate the items in the mosaic.

“This is a piece of the tile from the kitchen downstairs and then a piece from the title that matches up here, and there’s a few of my legos and -”

“Is that my 10-year-chip?” Tony breathed and looked at Steve.

Steve nodded. “I hope that’s okay.”

“I gave it to you, babe, and you gave it back to us,” Tony smiled. “Of course you did.”

Peter continued his tour. “And this is one of Uncle Bucky’s dog tags that he sent home to Pops when he was hurt, and this is from Uncle Rhodey’s plane - he said not to tell his bosses and I promised we’d keep it a secret, and this is-”

“Is that Mom’s wedding ring?” Tony breathed out quickly and Peter nodded.

“I wanted her to be in here and Pops said you were saving her ring for me anyway,” Peter said sheepishly.

“Is that okay? We can take it out,” Steve said quickly. “I set it in a way where we can-”

Tony cut him off with a kiss. “Shut up. It’s perfect.” He gestured to an etched iron plate in the middle of the design. “What does this say?” Tony’s eyes were clouded with too many tears to read the carefully carved words.

“It’s from a [song by The Highwomen](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+highwomen+crowded+table&oq=the+highwomen+cro&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.5736j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), honey,” Steve replied.

_I want a house with a crowded table_  
_And a place by the fire for everyone_  
_ Let us take on the world while we’re young and able_  
_ And bring us back together when the day is done_

“That’s you, baby,” Steve whispered through his own tears.

“That’s us,” Tony reached for both of them. “That’s _us_.”

* * *

“You understand that if I have to hear him practice that song one more time, I may actually kill you,” Steve muttered to his husband one Saturday evening.

“Me?” Tony acted affronted, but winced as Peter hit the wrong note again in the sonata he was practicing. “Okay, I can’t even keep up the gag. Did we find the thing our kid is terrible at?”

Steve nodded. “I think so, babe.”

Tony sighed. “I just really loved piano when I was growing up. It’s numbers, music is, so I thought he’d dig it, too.”

“And maybe he will!” Steve rushed to reassure Tony. “But there’s lots of instruments and maybe piano just isn’t his gift.”

The pair both winced as Peter played something that sounded both atonal and abusive at the same time.

“So, let’s explore some other creative options.”

“Maybe something… maybe something that doesn’t make noise?” Tony ventured.

“What about karate? Discipline, movement, gets his 10-year-old wiggles out in a productive way?” Steve offered.

“I might karate chop that piano,” Tony muttered as he nodded his agreement. “Peter!”

The boy came scampering. “Yeah, Dad?”

“Pops and I are wondering how you’d feel about karate?”

The boy brightened. “As a hobby? Like instead of piano?”

His fathers exchanged looks.

“You guys cannot think I’m good at that,” Peter pointed to the piano room.

“We want to be supportive if you love it,” Steve said quickly.

Peter made a face at them before heading for the kitchen, most likely in search of a snack. “How can I love something I’m so terrible at?”

Steve looked at Tony as his husband laughed. “He’s definitely your son.”

Tony laughed for a few moments and then got quiet. “He’s yours, too, but I know what you mean. Are you okay with that?”

Steve peered at Tony closely. “You mean like am I okay that Peter doesn’t have my DNA? Yes, Tony, I’m fine with that.”

Tony fiddled with the hem of his shirt for a few moments before he continued. “Do you want one that does?”

“Like a surrogate?”

Tony nodded. “I’m just… I’m just saying that I’d understand and we haven’t really talked in a little bit about more kids since…”

Steve smiled sadly. “I think two failed adoption attempts and, what, three years of waiting was enough. But, yes, okay, surrogacy... I think I’m ready to start hoping again.”

“Yeah?” Tony’s eyes shone with the promise of more family.

“Yeah, baby,” Steve pulled him in for a kiss. “Let’s make the table more crowded.”

As their lips parted, Tony whispered that he loved Steve and Steve returned the sentiment. They sat like that, quietly reaffirming their vows, until their son barreled back into the room.

“Um, Dad? Pops? Can you stop being gross for, like, two seconds?”

“No,” Tony replied, but turned his eyes to the boy.

Peter’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and Steve had to stifle a chuckle. He looks exactly like Tony when he does that.

“Can I have ice cream?”

“Do we have any?” Steve asked and when Jarvis confirmed they were out, he stood from the couch and offered a hand to his husband.

“I think ice cream sounds like a great idea,” Steve smiled and the trio made their way to the elevator, with Peter and Tony arguing over the merits of ice cream versus gelato.

And their life - their painful, beautiful, overwhelming, full life - continued to be practically perfect in every way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The _incredible_ song referenced can be found [here](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+highwomen+crowded+table&oq=the+highwomen+cro&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.5736j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).
> 
> (from flame) If this is the first time we've met, hello! Thanks for giving my fic a try. If you liked this, chances are you'll like the rest of my stuff. I write found family fluff and adults learning how to use their words where everyone lives happily ever after - and there's frequently an adorable kiddo thrown in there somewhere. Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the [Stony](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) or [Stuckony](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n) servers.


	6. Visuals from kocuria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more amazing visuals for this tale - this time from [kocuria](https://kocuria.tumblr.com/). Updated July 2020.

* * *

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**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [collab: betheflame](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23362237) by [kocuria-visuals (kocuria)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kocuria/pseuds/kocuria-visuals)


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